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  1. Benjamin, Paaßen ; Carrie, Demmans Epp (Ed.)
    K-12 Computer Science (CS) education has seen remarkable growth recently, driven by the increasing focus on CS and Computational Thinking (CT) integration. Despite the abundance of Professional development (PD) programs designed to prepare future CS teachers with the required knowledge and skills, there is a lack of research on how teachers' perceptions and attitudes of CS and CT evolve before and after participating in these programs. To address this gap, our exploratory study aims to study the dynamics of pre-and in-service teachers' experiences, attitudes, and perceptions towards CS and CT through their participation in a K-12 CS education micro-credential program. In this study, we employed topic modeling to identify topics that emerged from teachers' written pre- and post-CS autobiographies, conducted statistical analysis to explore how these topics evolve over time and applied regression analysis to investigate the factors influencing these dynamics. We observed a shift in teachers' initial feelings of fear, intimidation, and stress towards confidence, fun, and feeling competent in basic CS, reflecting a positive transformation. Regression analysis revealed that features, such as experienced teacher status and CT conceptual understanding, correlate with participants' evolving views. These observed relationships highlight the micro-credential's role in not only enhancing technical competency but also fostering an adaptive, integrative pedagogical mindset, providing new insights for course design. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 14, 2025
  2. Benjamin, Paaßen ; Carrie, Demmans Epp (Ed.)
    This paper was written with the help of ChatGPT. Recent advancements in the development and deployment of large generative language models to power generative AI tools, including OpenAIż˝fs ChatGPT, have led to their broad usage across virtually all fields of study. While the tools have been trained to generate human-like-dialogue in response to questions or prompts, they are similarly used to compose larger, more complex artifacts, including social media posts, essays, and even research articles. Although this abstract has been written entirely by a human without any input, consultation, or revision from a generative language model, it would likely be difficult to discern any difference as a reader. In light of this, there is growing debate and concern regarding using these models to aid the writing process, particularly concerning publication. Aside from some notable risks, including the unintentional generation of false information, citation of non-existing research articles, or plagiarism by generating text that is sampled from another source without proper citation, there are additional questions pertaining to the originality of ideas expressed in a work has been partially-written or revised by a generative language model. We present this paper as both a case study into the usage of generative models to aid in the writing of academic research articles but also as an example of how transparency and open science practices may help in addressing several issues that have been raised in other contexts and communities. While this paper neither attempts to promote nor contest the use of these language models in any writing task, it is the goal of this work to provide insight and potential guidance into the ethical and effective usage of these models within this domain. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 14, 2025
  3. Benjamin, Paaßen ; Carrie, Demmans Epp (Ed.)
    With the support of digital learning platforms, synchronous and collaborative learning has become a prominent learning paradigm in mathematics education. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) has emerged as a valuable tool for enhancing mathematical discourse, problem solving, and ultimately learning outcomes. This paper presents an innovative examination of Graspable Math (GM), a dynamic mathematic notation and learning online platform, to enable synchronous, collaborative learning between pairs of students. Through analyzing students' online log data, we adopt a data-driven method to better understand the intricate dynamics of collaborative learning in mathematics as it happens. Specifically, we apply frequency distributions, cluster analysis to present students' dynamic interaction patterns and identify distinctive profiles of collaboration. Our findings reveal several collaboration profiles that emerge through these analyses. This research not only bridges the gap in current CSCL tools for mathematics, but also provides empirical insights into the effective design and implementation of such tools. The insights gained from this research offer implications for the design of digital learning tools that support effective and engaging collaborative learning experiences. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 14, 2025
  4. Benjamin, Paaßen ; Carrie, Demmans Epp (Ed.)
    This study investigates the influence of short breaks on self-regulated learning within an online learning platform and their impact on student attrition and performance outcomes. The research focuses on 7th-grade students¿½f mathematics performance using an online learning platform in 2016. Building on this goal, we conducted two regression analyses to investigate the number of students who stopped out and returned to finish the assignments and explore the duration of breaks between questions among those students who returned to complete the assignments. Specifically, the study analyzes session durations, break intervals, and their correlation with student performance after stopping out. Results reveal that, despite prevalent breaks between problems, break duration does not significantly affect learning performance. The findings provide correlations between short breaks and the completeness and correctness within self-regulated learning contexts. The study emphasizes the need for an exploration of predicting diverse assignment difficulty, break duration, and completeness. This research contributes valuable insights into self-regulated learning on online learning platform and predicting the potential for student success. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 14, 2025
  5. We introduce a working approach that combines the method of fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) to create augmented data for the regression predictive models aimed at detecting at-risk students in online learning communities. This approach has the potential to leverage scarce data to improve urgency detection, and it can also present the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing the resilience of educational communities and ensuring timely interventions within online learning settings. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 10, 2025