The Europe Code Week (CodeEU) initiative shaping the skills of future engineers

Abstract

The growth of employment opportunities in the information technology sector and the shortage of well-trained professionals in this field are a recurring theme in recent years in both Europe and North America. In this sense, research studies that analyse the causes of the reduction of students who are interested in computer science mainly point to young people being unaware of the type of tasks computer scientists perform. Therefore, in order to try to reverse this trend many types of initiatives have been organized seeking to bring the world of computing to children and adolescents. In the same vein, the main objective of the Europe Code Week, an initiative which was held in parallel in 38 countries and in which more than 100,000 people participated, is to show the beauty and fun associated with programming as a means of attracting young people to computer science to get endow the European labour market with well-trained professionals who are required in this field. In this paper, in addition of presenting the goals and most relevant facts of this initiative, its relationship to other similar research work is analysed, the lessons learned after its first two iterations are shared, and suggestions to improve future editions are made, with special focus on improve the possibilities of assess its impact and results more accurately.

Comparing computational thinking development assessment scores with software complexity metrics

“…All over the world, initiatives are spreading to promote this skill through computer programming from an early age, both in formal and informal environments [2]. There are many technologies that have been created in order to assist learners in the learning of these skills, such as the historic Logo [3], or the more recent Scratch [4] or Alice [5] programming languages, the introduction of robots in the classroom [6], or the availability of affordable hardware devices such as Raspberry Pi or Arduino [7].…”

An experience report on the effectiveness of five themed workshops at inspiring high school students to learn coding

“…In Europe, Code Week was introduced as an umbrella for organizing and supporting multiple related events across the continent. Code Week is described and compared to similar activities by Moreno-Leòn and Robles [8]. Similarly, the Hour of Code is the pioneer event of its type taking place in the United States [15].…”

“…Learning to code is nowadays considered a skill of high importance, like knowing how to read, write and do basic mathematics [16]. Many initiatives, like the Code Week in Europe [8] and the Hour of Code in the United States [15], aim to emphasize the importance of coding and inspire the youth to invest more time and effort in learning to code. In 2013, we endeavored to set up a similarly themed national event to promote the value of coding.…”

Computational Thinking and Down Syndrome: An Exploratory Study Using the KIBO Robot

“…Results show that people with cognitive disabilities can acquire basic programming and computational skills using tangible robots such as KIBO.Informatics 2019, 6, 25 2 of 20 using the fundamental concepts of computing" [9]. The interest in this term continues to grow, as does the number of initiatives to promote its effective introduction in schools [10][11][12][13][14].Coding, programming, and computational thinking constitute a way for people to express and share their ideas [15]. In this sense, these skills can be integrated into almost any class activity, with or without technology, as a new literacy and a new way of thinking, integrated with other parts of the curriculum.Furthermore, educational robotics is a didactic approach that can be integrated into different educational environments [16].…”

“…Informatics 2019, 6, 25 2 of 20 using the fundamental concepts of computing" [9]. The interest in this term continues to grow, as does the number of initiatives to promote its effective introduction in schools [10][11][12][13][14].…”