The Lugano Computing Education Resarch Lab
Luce is a research lab at the Software Institute
of USI in Lugano, Switzerland.
Our research, teaching, and service is related to computing education,
with a specific focus on learning to program.
What we are up to
Come meet us at upcoming events and check out materials and recordings of past events.
- 14/11/2024 Koli Calling'24 Talk: Assessing the Understanding of Expressions: A Qualitative Study of Notional-Machine-Based Exam Questions
- 24/10/2024 SPLASH-E '24 Talk: Judicious: API Documentation for Novices
- 02/09/2024 GymInf Verteidigung von Isabella Gall Programmierunterricht mit PyTamaro-Web für vier Klassen am Gymnasium
- 02/09/2024 GymInf Verteidigung von Christoph Benkler Effektivität von PyTamaro im Python-Unterricht: Auf Stufe Sek II (Gymnasium & FMS), im Vergleich zu Turtle
- 22/07/2024 PyTamaro Summer Academy 2024 Five-Day Summer Academy at the Software Institute at USI in Lugano
- 14/06/2024 Tim Bell Visit Talk: Putting the Computation into Computational Thinking via CS Unplugged
- 12/06/2024 GymInf Verteidigung von Marco Lichtsteiner BioCode: Programmieren lernen mit Biologie
What we produced
Our research connects programming languages and computing education. We design tools and approaches, conduct studies, teach at all levels of the university, contribute to textbooks, and help in teacher education. Here are some of our current favorites:
PyTamaro
Problem Decomposition with Graphics
Expression Tutor
Understand Expressions as Trees
Progmiscon
Turn Misconceptions into Learning Opportunities
Notional Machine Collection
Pedagogic Devices for Teaching Programming
Composition in Java
Teach Java Programming on Strong Foundations
Informatik: Programmieren und Robotik
High School Informatics Textbook (Klett und Balmer Verlag)
Publications
- 2024 Research Paper Assessing the Understanding of Expressions: A Qualitative Study of Notional-Machine-Based Exam Questions
- 2024 Research Paper Judicious: API Documentation for Novices
- 2023 Research Paper Teaching Programming with Graphics: Pitfalls and a Solution
- 2022 Research Paper Expressions in Java: Essential, Prevalent, Neglected?
- 2022 Call ICER 2022 call for participation
- 2021 Research Paper Wrong Answers for Wrong Reasons: The Risks of Ad Hoc Instruments
- 2021 Demonstration Paper Conceptual Checks for Programming Teachers
- 2021 Conference Paper A Curated Inventory of Programming Language Misconceptions
- 2020 Book Chapter Operators and Expressions
- 2020 Conference Paper Notional Machines in Computing Education: The Education of Attention