In programming education for non-computer science students, high diversity exists among our students, including gender, culture, age, educational background, and work experience. Introductory programming courses traditionally face high drop-out rates and poor performance, and students often perceive learning to program as difficult. Current research on diversity in programming education has primarily focused on gender differences, thus neglecting the influence of other diversity dimensions on students' performance. The project Diversity in Programming Education (DIPE) aims to fill this gap by identifying how heterogeneous groups of students can be best supported. Based on our findings, we develop a didactic concept with accompanying teaching and learning material to support different diversity dimensions actively in programming education. The concept includes competence models for measuring competences and individual learning paths. To support a flat learning curve further in university programming courses in the future, we closely work with schools and educational centres for teachers to integrate algorithmic thinking into school curricula. We empirically evaluate our concept using a mixed methods approach. In particular, we will explore the effects of our concept in our programming course and will investigate the value of these effects as perceived by lecturers and students.

Full Paper Research-to-Practice The current COVID-19 crisis has created significant challenges for schools. The growing importance of “flipping the classroom” and the needful emphasizing of online-learning were owed to the situation. To meet these requirements, materials and tasks must be adapted. The Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook “Computational Thinking with the BBC micro:bit” was developed for the introduction of Computational Thinking (CT) for 10-14-year-old pupils in Austria's secondary schools. Example tasks in the textbook are designed with an open end and present extensions with ideas for further development instead of ending abruptly. This article provides a guideline for a clear distinction in redesigning existing lessons following the Inverted Classroom Model (ICM) using videos for pre-class work and live task extensions for in-class work. Which parts in the learning design must remain as live lessons and which parts can be adapted for video lessons? The respective research shows that examples that have a makerspace activity as an extension are especially helpful for an efficient determination of the appropriate part in the learning design and particularly suitable for an adaptation with ICM. The central advantage of the ICM is that it responds flexibly to the individual learning needs of each student. It allows students to take their time reviewing the material at their own pace without getting left behind. The textbook used here encourages pupils to find their own solutions by explorative learning using the block-based programming environment MakeCode. Additional information to be uncovered by the learner is provided for every single step in the accompanying online wiki website. Results from observations showed that this uncover-function, being a central element of the online material, encouraged the learners to explore their own way in finding a solution with playful elements and increased motivation. The many haptic elements of a makerspace activity are in particular useful for consolidation of the learned and are predisposed for in-class work and deepening the understanding following the constructionism theory. A Design-Based Research (DBR) approach is used to create and evaluate the redesign of a proven example task in a pilot project. Teachers, who are already familiar with the BBC micro:bit and the OER textbook, were trained on how to use the “flip-version” of an example task in their lessons and asked to develop a lesson plan for implementation. The didactic approach to redesigning the material and teacher training was evaluated during the first cycle of DBR. Results from expert interviews showed that the redesigned material and training deliver a solid ground for rework and further research on a larger scale.

Full paper. One of the biggest challenges in education is the transfer of innovations and new didactic approaches into the school system. To ensure a high standard of teaching, it is essential that the teachers' expertise, pedagogical content knowledge as well as digital competences are continuously improved by further training. In-service training for teachers is offered in different settings (short-, middle- and long term), with advantages and disadvantages. Two aspects that correlate positively are the costs and the sustainable outcome of these trainings. With these aspects in mind the Educational Pyramid Scheme (EPS) is currently being developed and implemented as part of an Erasmus Plus project. It is an innovative concept that aims at spreading new learning contents and methods in a relatively short time within the school system, with low costs and high effect. It is inspired by the economical pyramid scheme, which is designed to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities. The transaction content of the Educational Pyramid Scheme refers to methods or strategies that are being exchanged, and to the resources and capabilities that are required to enable the exchange. According to a train-the-trainer principle, teachers and pupils will be qualified to be trainers, who then spread their knowledge and skills to people in their school and beyond. The EPS contains three different functions or roles: multipliers (teachers and scientists), mentors (teachers) and tutors (pupils). The motivation to participate is maintained with a benefit system adapted for each target group. The training of target groups follows high qualitative standards and therefore presents different phases: input, practical phase and reflection. This paper describes the development of the EPS and its first implementation in the framework of the Austrian mandatory curriculum "Basic Digital Education" including computational thinking and programming. It presents some qualitative results gained so far from interviews and observation, which are satisfactory and deliver good arguments for the further implementation of the EPS.

In contrast to the field of computer-supported or computer-assisted language learning (CALL), which has been investigated intensively for the last decades since the beginning of e-learning and technology-enhanced learning, computational thinking and computer science concepts are not quite common in the context of language lessons. Computational thinking is a problem solving process that, at first sight, has not much to do with language learning. However, as demanded by Jeannette Wing in 2006, it should be taught to everyone like reading, writing and mathematics. By introducing computational thinking in language lessons e.g. through modeling we could "kill two birds with one stone": On the one hand, we can teach computational thinking and basics of computer science at all school levels even if there is no related subject, e.g. in primary schools. On the other hand, computational thinking tools like modeling can support language learning in different ways and help to train text comprehension, to acquire and elaborate vocabulary or to visualize grammar rules etc. This paper describes some creative possibilities of introducing computational thinking through modeling in language lessons in primary and secondary education. Besides best practices, it further presents some experiences and results gained from teacher observation, interviews and informal feedback from students and teachers.