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Creators/Authors contains: "Robertson, Cindy"

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  1. The main objective of this qualitative study was to gauge the effectiveness of introducing algorithmic thinking and fundamental programming concepts such as variables, loops, and conditional statements to K-12 and undergraduate students through interactive classroom workshops. Using a game as the teaching platform, the classroom workshops were designed to approach programming concepts in a fun and engaging way to foster interest and increase participation in computing and technology, especially among underrepresented groups in the field. We strove to break down the stigma that programming was dull and boring, and that only people with innate ability could pick up the skill. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 17, 2026
  2. Our project aims to provide a snapshot of the possibilities of Augmented Reality (AR) art creation within a limited timeframe. It offers participants a way to express their creativity. We introduce college students to the world of AR via several workshops. Here we present the results of these workshops. Our audience understood how to create 3D models and how to use them in an augmented reality environment. Participants also found our workshop fun and engaging and that it expanded their interest in these new technologies. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 17, 2026
  3. We are proposing a workshop that instructs K-12 teachers on how to implement fun and engaging projects involving different technologies in their classrooms. These types of projects can be used by faculty to introduce programming skills and other computing concepts, and they are also a fantastic resource for outreach activities. Our students developed these outreach projects in a service learning course as a way to develop and promote their technical skills. We thoroughly documented these projects and developed various tutorial videos and instructions on how to interact with the technologies. We maintain these projects in a searchable online repository that we will introduce during the workshop. We will also share best practices and allow for discussion in utilizing these projects and possibly creating new ones at their institutions. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 17, 2026
  4. Creativity has been shown to improve student learning and retention and is also one of the top skills wanted by employers in computing. However, it is seldom a clear component for most computing courses and is difficult to measure as a course outcome. This paper describes a course specifically designed for student retention with creativity as the central component, and a research study that investigated students’ perspectives on what creativity is, how it pertains to them based on a set of twelve traits, and how this course has impacted their creativity. Students indicated that this course was the most creative course that they have taken and our data shows that it influenced their self-reported creativity. Out of the traits we provided, open-minded and curious were the two selected by our students as top characteristics of creativity. We discuss our observations from this study and provide a qualitative analysis. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 17, 2026
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  9. This paper describes a study about which medium best introduces programming concepts to those without programming knowledge, a blocked coded robot (Cozmo) or online Scratch coding. Participants were taught basic coding concepts such as if statements and while loops in both instances and given a task to test their newly attained knowledge. Results showed that even though Scratch coding on computers was more successful as a tool to teach students programming concepts, the Cozmo robot brought more engagement and interest to the students. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 17, 2026
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