Informal computer science (CS) learning environments, such as after-school programs and summer camps, introduce students to computing outside traditional classrooms, helping broaden participation in CS. This poster reviews literature on curricula and instructor training across informal CS programs, highlighting significant variation in content, structures, and delivery. Evidence suggests that while these programs improve student attitudes and conceptual understanding, challenges in engagement, pacing, and instructor preparedness persist, particularly with reliance on lecture-style activities and varying student programming backgrounds. Through a case study of a California nonprofit's afterschool coding classes, common classroom management and engagement issues are identified. In response, we are developing a toolkit of supplemental resources to support teachers based on the available evaluation research in addition to collaboratively revising the curriculum of this afterschool program (which will be complete in 2026). We present the proposed toolkit in this poster. Our findings aim to inform future curriculum development and targeted teacher training, advancing the effectiveness of informal CS learning environments.

Despite widespread adoption of the K-12 Computer Science Standards published by the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) in 2017, there remain few validated assessments for computer science that researchers and educators can use to measure students' conceptual understanding. Traditional assessments that do exist tend to consist largely of multiple-choice questions that do not adequately measure students' programming skills or their use of the computer science practices described in the standards. This project aims to develop and iteratively refine a mixed-format assessment for middle school computer science. The first phase of this work unpacked the middle school (6-8 grade band) CS standards to develop prototype items, including live coding tasks, that would assess the learning outcomes addressed therein. In phase 2, we tested the prototype items with students through cognitive interviews to better understand their response processes and the complex problem-solving and reasoning they demonstrated while taking the assessment.

There has been significant progress in increasing the access to computing education for many K-12 students, including states adopting computer science (CS) standards and/or requiring CS courses. This includes the creation of block-based programming languages to make programming more accessible to younger students. Despite this progress, a new challenge has emerged: Students often struggle to transfer conceptual knowledge when transitioning to a new programming language (e.g., transitioning to a text-based programming after learning a block-based programming language). This poster presents the results of teacher interviews regarding the examples of knowledge transfer they observe in their classrooms. These interviews are part of an overarching project that aims to address the challenge of knowledge transfer between programming languages by developing a framework to support such transfer and deliver curricular supports that can be used to aid students' productive knowledge transfer between programming languages.

More students are encountering computer science at multiple grade levels and so are learning more than one programming language. There is an ever-growing body of research describing how students transfer knowledge from one language to another. Current research shows that transfer helps students learn a second programming language in the interim and improves attitudes and retention of students in computer science [2, 12]. While novice programmers generally struggle with the same concepts [1, 12], the exact difficulties and benefits of the transition to a second programming language differ depending on the programming languages the student is learning. In order to best serve students of different backgrounds and maintain their interest in the subject, the details of transfer for different programming language combinations must be understood. This poster surveys and analyzes the current research on transfer and provides a summary of the variety of challenges and advantages students face in learning a second programming language. Additionally, interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches are discussed, integrating perspectives from applied linguistics as novel solutions to the specific issues faced in programming language transfer.