CHI ’25, Yokohama, Japan

The expansion of essay mills and the recent emerging opportunities presented by generative Artificial Intelligence tools have led to fresh concerns about the authenticity of students' assessed work. These changes mean it is timely to revisit academic integrity within the UK Higher Education computing community. The aim of this research is to explore the current perspectives of senior computing academics on academic integrity and student cheating, particularly given the rapid development of generative AI tools and resources and the growth in essay mills. An exploratory research approach was adopted using a mixed methods approach. A critical literature review was undertaken and this together with the researcher team's expertise was used to underpin the design of the practical research activities. A survey was conducted of UK higher education senior academics (response rate,$\mathrm{n}=16$). The results from this informed a set of in-depth individual semistructured interviews with senior UK computing academics$(\mathrm{n}=5)$. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative survey data and exploratory thematic analysis undertaken with the qualitative data from the survey and interviews. Methodological triangulation was used across these data sets to inform the key findings and their interpretation and discussion. The findings demonstrate that senior computing academics are concerned about the levels and types of student cheating on their assessed work. The reasons for this are complex and multifaceted, with no simple solution. Academic misconduct is perceived to adversely affect academic standards. Challenges with the detection and investigation of student cheating and the need to ensure consistency of approach by all staff are highlighted. Action is needed urgently and respondents emphasize that this should focus on prevention rather than detection of academic misconduct. These findings have informed a set of recommendations to promote good academic practice and integrity across the UK Higher Education computing community. The findings also highlight that in order to implement these recommendations, staff, students and their departments/institutions need to come together and draw on each others' expertise and experiences to enable a high-quality ethical learning experience.

GenAI is playing an increasingly important role in computing courses at all levels, offering new opportunities to support teaching and learning. However, using GenAI effectively raises important concerns regarding trust, academic integrity, and broader social and ethical dimensions. This Working Group was formed to report on the current state of the art in using GenAI in upper-level computing courses to aid educators. The working group will undertake a methodological review of published work and solicit input from the computing educational community as part of the report.

Educators have long researched student attention and how this influences learning, teaching and assessment. Focusing on how this specifically impacts upon CS education, we present early work that constructs a deeper understanding of CS student attention during learning and teaching activities, alongside co-designing a set of recommendations. We conducted an in-depth analysis of student perspectives and experiences related to their attention in CS courses through diaries and focus groups, working with students as partners on recommendations for increasing student attention and engagement. The outcomes of this preliminary work provides the foundation for developing future engagement activities and targeted interventions for undergraduate CS students.

Students have experienced incredible shifts in the in their learning environments, brought about by the response of universities to the ever-changing public health mandates driven by waves and stages of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Initially, these shifts in learning (mode of course delivery, course availability, etc.) were considered emergency responses. However, as the pandemic presses on, students have had to repeatedly adapt to the continuously evolving educational landscape as this global health crisis forced an "unprecedented global shift within higher education in the ways that we communicate with and educate students". This working group builds upon foundations and structure created by a 2021 ITICSE Working Group exploring the effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning from a faculty perspective. That Working Group identified the incorporation of some pandemic-induced changes into future teaching practices. In this Working Group, we explore existing literature regarding the student experience in response to the evolving teaching practices catalyzed by COVID-19). Traditionally, computing is a subject full of experiential learning opportunities, rich with in-person labs and exercises. We explore how the changes within the COVID-affected academic landscape have altered that student experience. The current group of computing students will have had experiences under both typical (i.e. pre-pandemic) and COVID-affected teaching practices. It is, therefore, timely that we understand how each has impacted how they perceive their learning environment and educational experience. In turn, identifying those practices that have most benefited the student learning experience will help computing faculty improve their practices going forward.

Globally, the future of work is changing with organisations increasingly reliant on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills and related expertise. In developing countries such as Nigeria, professionals with these skills and expertise are also in high demand. With changes in healthcare, education, economic growth and sustainable development, there is an urgent need to increase the number of young people choosing to study and work in STEM, and particularly digital technologies and engineering. Previous research has identified that the traditional instructivist and theoretical approach to teaching often used in Nigeria and other developing countries can be a major barrier to young people, who can often regard STEM subjects and careers as not for `people like them' and/or have very narrow perspectives of opportunities in the STEM sector. It also means that young people are not equipped to take their place as digital citizens in today's global society. The DIGISTEM programme was commissioned by the Ekiti State Government in Nigeria and sponsored by the World Bank to provide a novel approach to address these challenges. This paper presents its overall vision. Using an action research approach, a set of carefully designed interactions were conducted with young people and their schools and teachers. The initial results from this are presented and demonstrate that there is an urgent need to transform educational practice in this and other similar regions to provide a more authentic and active learning experience that prepares young people to be career-ready global digital citizens.

This panel brings together personnel from the University of Washington Seattle, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Google, who have helped shape the National Center for Women & Information Technology's (NCWIT) Extension Services for Graduate Programs (ES-Grad) a program designed to provide resources and strategies to enact systemic change in doctoral computing programs. Panelists will discuss barriers to recruiting and retaining more diverse students in doctoral computing education, as well as strategies and initiatives that can be replicated to foster equitable and inclusive PhD programs.

This paper presents the results of a study on the adoption and integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the classroom in Nigeria from the teachers' perspective. Although the Internet and digital devices are becoming increasingly accessible by many more people in Nigeria, the literature shows that their adoption and integration in the classroom is still low. This research adopts the case study method to examine the barriers as well as the solutions from the perspective of the teachers. Twenty science teachers from different schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria participated in this study. A combination of focus groups and questionnaires was used to collect data. The results show that the main barriers against the adoption and integration of ICT in the classroom include a lack of adequate and well-trained personnel, poor internet service, as well as high cost of access. The identified solutions include changes to the curriculum to support digital literacy, funding and material support from both regional and national government, and digital literacy training for the teachers. These findings provide practical insights for school leaders and policy makers on strategies and recommendations to improve the adoption and integration of ICT in schools in Nigeria.

This research to practice paper uses a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the factors that affect teachers' intentions to use digital educational games in the classroom. Research shows that using computers and other digital technologies like digital games is one way to influence young people's career aspirations and improve their digital literacy. This is particularly important as the world of work is changing and emerging jobs becoming more intensive in their use of digital technologies. In the developing world and in particular Nigeria, there have been calls to improve the digital literacy skills of young people to help them make informed career choices, and fully participate effectively and equally in the digital world. However, many of the computing and digital technology education initiatives have not produced the positive results intended. The lack of awareness, readiness and buy-in of the relevant stakeholders are some of the factors that has been identified as a barrier here. For example, for computing and digital technology-based projects in schools, the success largely depends on the support and attitude of teachers. As one of the major stakeholders in the classroom, teachers need to be consulted in decisions that affect the way they deliver their lessons; especially when novel ideas and approaches that challenge tradition are introduced. It is therefore important to consider their acceptance or otherwise of digital games in the classroom. A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was modified to include constructs previously identified by teachers that potentially influence their intention to use digital games in the classroom. The extended TAM was developed into a questionnaire and tested with 220 teachers in Nigeria. Analyses of the results show that syllabus connectedness, perceived usefulness and self-efficacy are significant predictors of the intention of teachers to adopt digital game-based learning in the classroom. Furthermore, the teachers' demographics including experience of teaching, age and gender all mediated the intention of the teachers to use digital game-based learning. The results and findings present recommendations for school leaders and developers of digital educational games. The practical insights from this are also important here and helpful for guiding the deployment of such games particularly in areas where such technological interventions have not been used before.

We report on the development and implementation of biomakerlab, a wetlab starter kit for synthetic biology activities in K-12. In synthetic biology, participants make their own DNA-gene by gene-and then grow their designs into real applications by inserting them into microorganisms to develop different traits and characteristics provided by the genes. High school students worked with biomakerlab to make logo designs using microorganisms they manipulated to produce differently colored pigments. Our analysis focuses on student engagement with production activities and design challenges in biomaking. In the discussion, we address differences and overlaps between traditional maker activities and biomaker activities for education.

Most of the previous research has focused on gendered or racial representations in either game playing or making contexts. In this paper, we adopt an intersectional perspective by examining gender and race identity representations and constructions within Minecraft, a sandbox game, popular with millions of youth. Our research focuses not only on game play and construction but also examines gender and racial representations within the larger metagaming community, in particular online YouTube video postings and a public gaming convention. In the discussion, we address gender, race, and intersectional identity representation across Minecraft's ecology in how these representations on and offline are influenced by and impact youth gamers along with ways to prevent Minecraft from becoming an exclusionary space.