Programming Languages and Compilers Commons^™

Compiling Haskell Into Lean: A Common Abstract Syntax For Haskell And Interactive Theorem Provers, Talitha Holcombe

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

In this work, we introduce a program conversion tool, HS-TO-LEAN, that uses GHC's ghc-lib-parser API to translate Haskell programs into Lean code, which is then validated by the Lean compiler. The repo can be found at https://github.com/holcombet/hs-to-lean/tree/main. The result is a successful compilation of a fragment of Haskell into correct and executable Lean code that users can prove theorems about. We conducted a case study using a heap sort algorithm to support our claim that HS-TO-LEAN produces verifiable Lean code. Our approach is inspired by recent advances in formal verification of Haskell programs in Coq, and we currently restrict our …

Addressing Equity Issues In Elementary Computer Science Education: Knowns, Unknowns, And Implications For Future Work, Mike Karlin, Yin-Chan Janet Liao, Swati Mehta, Afreen Iqbal, Mahya Minaiy, Minhye Son, Jessica Pandya

Journal of Computer Science Integration

In 2016, a national coalition of stakeholders released the K-12 computer science (CS) framework. In the time since, there has been an increased push at the local, state, and national level to integrate CS knowledge and skills into K-12 education. Despite this push, significant equity issues exist within the field. While growing research has been done on CS equity issues at the high school level, we know these equity gaps often begin to emerge in elementary school where less is known. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review to better understand and explore the elementary CS equity research landscape from …

How Do Preservice Teachers Learn To Teach Integrated Computational Thinking?: Evidence From Planning, Enactment, And Reflection, Rachael Dektor, Samuel Severance, Kip Téllez

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This study examines pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) beliefs and understandings about computational thinking (CT) integration and lesson implementation over time. Utilizing a design-based research approach, 3 PSTs led the co-design of integrated CT lessons with support from researchers and enacted these CT integrated lessons with K-5 students. All PSTs participated in a whole-group CT workshop and engaged in one-on-one lesson design sessions with a researcher. We utilized a grounded theory approach to qualitatively analyze pre-surveys, semi-structured interviews, and video data of three PSTs enacting their lessons. We found that PSTs’ initial beliefs about CT instruction – including the importance of it …

Broadening Participation Of Teachers In Computing: Examining Postsecondary Educational Experiences And Prospective Educators’ Cs Teaching Interests, Robert Schwarzhaupt, Alexsandra Galanis, Joanna Goode, Kate Blanchard, Jill Bowdon, Joseph P. Wilson

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Teacher shortages in K–12 computer science (CS) education negatively impact students’ access to CS courses, exposure to CS concepts, and interest in CS-related careers. To address CS teacher shortages, this study seeks to understand factors related to expressing a preference to teach CS among prospective teachers. The study team analyzed data from 27,700 prospective teacher applications accepted into the 2016–2020 Teach For America (TFA) corps (cohorts). The TFA corps is an alternative teacher development program that recruits and prepares participants to obtain their teaching certification while they work for at least two years in underserved communities on a temporary teaching …

A Critical Computing Curriculum Design Case: Exploring Tribal Sovereignty For Middle School Students, Kristin A. Searle, Aubrey Rogowski, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Mengying Jiang

Journal of Computer Science Integration

We report on our efforts to design an integrated computing curriculum for middle school students in Montana that is in line with the Kapor Center’s focus on culturally sustaining-revitalizing pedagogies. Montana provides a unique context for doing this work because a state constitutional mandate requires all K-12 students to learn about tribal histories and cultures through Indian Education For All (IEFA). IEFA centers around seven essential understandings about Indigenous peoples in Montana that are integrated across content areas. In addition, implementation of Montana’s CS standards began in the 2021–2022 school year. In the curricular design, we sought to bring together …

Employing An Abolitionist, Critical Race Pedagogy In Cs: Centering The Voices, Experiences And Technological Innovations Of Black Youth, Tiera Tanksley

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This paper proposes a pedagogical extension of culturally responsive praxis called abolitionist, critical race pedagogy in CS. To showcase the power and potentiality of this pedagogy, this paper examines the experiences of 2 cohorts of Black high school students (n = 30) who participated in a critical race technology course that was taught during the dual pandemic of COVID-19 and anti-Black racism. The goal of this summer course was to employ an abolitionist, critical race pedagogy in CS to foster Black students’ ability to critically examine the ubiquity of anti-Black racism within the socio-technical architectures (e.g. code, data, algorithms and …

Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Computational Thinking: Enactment In Elementary Classrooms, Victoria Macann, Aman Yadav

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Technology has increasingly permeated many aspects of everyday life and this evolution raises the need for individuals to understand how the digital world works and what opportunities and risks it brings (Nouri, Zhang, Mannila & Norén, 2019). For this to be an experience for everyone, we need to rethink how we integrate computational thinking (CT) and provide teachers with tools to center their students’ identities, experiences, and cultures in the classroom. In this paper, we present two case studies of primary (elementary) teachers from a full primary (student ages 5–13) semi-rural school in the North Island of New Zealand that …

Random Variable Spaces: Mathematical Properties And An Extension To Programming Computable Functions, Mohammed Kurd-Misto

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

This dissertation aims to extend the boundaries of Programming Computable Functions (PCF) by introducing a novel collection of categories referred to as Random Variable Spaces. Originating as a generalization of Quasi-Borel Spaces, Random Variable Spaces are rigorously defined as categories where objects are sets paired with a collection of random variables from an underlying measurable space. These spaces offer a theoretical foundation for extending PCF to natively handle stochastic elements.

The dissertation is structured into seven chapters that provide a multi-disciplinary background, from PCF and Measure Theory to Category Theory with special attention to Monads and the Giry Monad. The …

Teacher Candidates’ Conceptions And Practices Of Computational Thinking For Equity, Heather F. Clark, Symone A. Gyles, Imelda Nava-Landeros

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This study documents novice science and math teachers’ developing pedagogical approaches to integrating computational thinking (CT) and data into their courses to support educational equity and social justice. The 10 novice teacher candidates (TCs) studied were part of an urban teacher residency program that empowered them with an asset-based pedagogy we describe as “CT for Equity.” Drawing on coursework and interviews as data, we asked three questions: What are teachers’ conceptions of CT? What are their CT instructional practices? And how did their students respond to those practices? To explore conceptions of CT, we used Kafai et al.’s (2020) articulation …

Asset-Based Approaches To Multilingual Students’ Computer Science Identity Development, Sharin Rawhiya Jacob, Mark Warschauer

Journal of Computer Science Integration

While computer science identity development has been examined in several studies, there is much to learn about the development of multilingual students’ computer science (CS) identities. To develop strong CS identities, multilingual students must engage in culturally and linguistically sustaining curriculum, pedagogy, and interaction that draws from their rich and varied resources. This theoretical paper is grounded in a justice-centered, asset-based framework that views the traditions and practices in students’ cultures and communities as strong contributors to knowledge construction in STEM. We draw on multiple studies exploring multilingual student CS identity development to better understand how their personal, familial, community-based, …

Wind River Elementary Computer Science Collaborative: Connecting Computer Science And Indigenous Identities And Knowledges On The Wind River Reservation, Joseph P. Wilson, Kathryn M. Rich, Jared O'Leary, Veronica Miller

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Three Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone–serving districts formed a researcher–practitioner partnership with the Wyoming Department of Education, the American Institutes for Research®, and BootUp Professional Development to advance the computer science (CS) education of their elementary students in ways that strengthen their Indigenous identities and knowledges. In this paper, we share experiences from 2019 to 2022 with our curriculum development, professional development (PD), and classroom implementation. The researcher–practitioner partnership developed student and teacher materials to support elementary CS lessons aligned to Wyoming’s CS standards and “Indian Education for All” social studies standards. Indigenous community members served as experts to codesign …

Near Peer Pedagogies For Culturally Sustaining Computer Science And Mathematics, Cliff Freeman, Eli Tucker-Raymond, Juan Gutierrez

Journal of Computer Science Integration

In this study, College STEM Literacy Workers act as co-teachers in 9th and 10th grade classrooms alongside mathematics teachers as they both learn to integrate a 30-hour integrated computer science/mathematics curriculum. As part of the curriculum for educator learning, we adapted the Algebra Project’s “Model of Excellence” for culturally relevant-sustaining pedagogies. We used the framework to explore how teachers understand College STEM Literacy Workers’ contributions in the model as well as College STEM Literacy Workers’ own experiences in the classroom. We found that while teachers and College STEM Literacy Workers did not individually instantiate the model of excellence, they were …

Application Of Machine Learning Algorithms For Elucidation Of Biological Networks From Time Series Gene Expression Data, Krupa Nagori

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

This dissertation provides a deep dive into understanding gene expression, interaction, regulation, and the intricate mechanisms behind heliotropism and phototropism. Additionally, the research accentuates the significance of machine learning techniques, specifically for gene regulatory networks (GRNs).

Chapter 1 offers an exhaustive benchmarking of GRN methodologies, furthering our comprehension of machine-learning models relevant to GRNs. The evaluation revealed that GRNTE, SWING, and BiXGBoost emerged as top-performing methods in GRN inference. The suitability of these models varies depending on specific research criteria such as computational needs, dataset dimensions, and performance metric emphasis. An innovation of this chapter was the introduction of Colab …

Designing An Equity-Centered Framework And Crosswalk For Integrated Elementary Computer Science Curriculum And Instruction, Carla Strickland, Andrea Ramírez-Salgado, Lauren Weisberg, Latoya Chandler, Jeanne Di Domenico, Elizabeth M. Lehman, Maya Israel

Journal of Computer Science Integration

As computer science (CS) education becomes more prevalent in K-12 instruction, it is critical for educators, researchers, and curriculum developers to identify culturally responsive and pedagogically inclusive approaches that can increase participation, access, and feelings of belonging for students from historically marginalized communities. In response, we developed an equity-centered curricular framework and illustrative crosswalk that synchronizes three distinct pedagogical approaches: culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and project-based learning (PBL). We describe the framework’s theoretical underpinnings and explain how this framework informed the development of an integrated elementary science+CS curricular unit and provide examples of its implementation. …

Large-Scale Identification And Analysis Of Factors Impacting Simple Bug Resolution Times In Open Source Software Repositories, Elia Eiroa-Lledo, Rao Hamza Ali, Gabriela Pinto, Jillian Anderson, Erik Linstead

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

One of the most prominent issues the ever-growing open-source software community faces is the abundance of buggy code. Well-established version control systems and repository hosting services such as GitHub and Maven provide a checks-and-balances structure to minimize the amount of buggy code introduced. Although these platforms are effective in mitigating the problem, it still remains. To further the efforts toward a more effective and quicker response to bugs, we must understand the factors that affect the time it takes to fix one. We apply a custom traversal algorithm to commits made for open source repositories to determine when “simple stupid …

Comparing Boys’ And Girls’ Attitudes Toward Computer Science, Danielle Scott, Amiee Zou, Sharin Rawhiya Jacob, Debra Richardson, Mark Warschauer

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Women are severely underrepresented in computer science (CS) degrees and careers. While student interest is a key predictor of success, little is known about how elementary students from underserved groups, such as girls, develop their interest in CS. To address this issue, we examined the differences in attitudes between upper elementary girls and boys towards CS after participating in a yearlong, inquiry-based CS curriculum designed for diverse learners. Pre-and-post surveys on students’ attitudes towards CS (n = 108) were delivered before and after student participation in the curriculum. Results from the survey showed only two demonstrated significant differences between boys …

Examining Early Elementary Computer Science Identity Repertoires Within A Curriculum: Implications For Epistemologically Pluralistic Identities, Eleanor Richard, Shakhnoza Kayumova

Journal of Computer Science Integration

As computer science (CS) enters an increasing number of elementary classrooms, researchers must investigate the representations of what kinds of people are presented as doing computer science within CS curricula. In this paper, we explore a widely used, freely accessible, web-based, early elementary CS curriculum to examine the kinds of identity repertoires (behaviors, actions, skills, and socioemotional norms) that are promoted as representative of being/becoming a CS person. More specifically, we draw on identity studies and employ critical discourse analysis to examine how the kinds of norms and repertoires of CS practice made available in the curricular materials might construct …

Integrating Computing Into Preservice Teacher Preparation Programs Across The Core: Language, Mathematics, And Science, Lauren E. Margulieux, Patrick Enderle, Pier Junor Clarke, Natalie King, Caroline Sullivan, Michelle Zoss, Joyce Many

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This paper describes the beginning of a design-based research project for integrating computing activities in preservice teacher programs throughout a middle and secondary education department. Computing integration activities use computing tools, like programming, to support learning in non-computing disciplines. The paper begins with the motivation for integrating computing that encouraged widespread buy-in, design goals, and design parameters. The primary motivating factor for this work was preparing teachers to use technology to support learning in their classrooms. Involving computing education faculty in the preparation enabled the activities to include computer science and spread computational literacy. The paper also describes the process …

Integrating Web Applications Into Popular Survey Platforms For Online Experiments, Benjamin Carter, Alessandro Del Ponte

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Research using custom-made web applications is burgeoning as scholars increasingly conduct their experiments online. We show how researchers can integrate their web applications into popular survey software such as Qualtrics in five simple steps and provide the full JavaScript code and screenshots. This procedure allows participants to seamlessly switch from Qualtrics to their web applications without leaving the survey platform. This integration has two benefits: (1) it eliminates the risk that participants inadvertently drop out of the survey while switching from the survey software to the web application and vice versa; and (2) it saves researchers the fees charged by …

Preparing School Leaders To Advance Equity In Computer Science Education, Julie Flapan, Jean J. Ryoo, Roxana Hadad, Joel Knudson

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Background and Context: Most large-scale statewide initiatives of the Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement have focused on the classroom level. Critical questions remain about building school and district leadership capacity to support teachers while implementing equitable computer science education that is scalable and sustainable.

Objective: This statewide research-practice partnership, involving university researchers and school leaders from 14 local education agencies (LEA) from district and county offices, addresses the following research question: What do administrators identify as most helpful for understanding issues related to equitable computer science implementation when engaging with a guide and workshop we …

Teachers’ Engagement And Self-Efficacy In A Pk–12 Computer Science Teacher Virtual Community Of Practice, Robert Schwarzhaupt, Feng Liu, Joseph Wilson, Fanny Lee, Melissa Rasberry

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Prekindergarten to 12th-grade teachers of computer science (CS) face many challenges, including isolation, limited CS professional development resources, and low levels of CS teaching self-efficacy that could be mitigated through communities of practice (CoPs). This study used survey data from 420 PK–12 CS teacher members of a virtual CoP, CS for All Teachers, to examine the needs of these teachers and how CS teaching self-efficacy, community engagement, and sharing behaviors vary by teachers’ instructional experiences and school levels taught. Results show that CS teachers primarily join the CoP to gain high-quality pedagogical, assessment, and instructional resources. The study also found …

A Fortran-Keras Deep Learning Bridge For Scientific Computing, Jordan Ott, Mike Pritchard, Natalie Best, Erik Linstead, Milan Curcic, Pierre Baldi

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Implementing artificial neural networks is commonly achieved via high-level programming languages such as Python and easy-to-use deep learning libraries such as Keras. These software libraries come preloaded with a variety of network architectures, provide autodifferentiation, and support GPUs for fast and efficient computation. As a result, a deep learning practitioner will favor training a neural network model in Python, where these tools are readily available. However, many large-scale scientific computation projects are written in Fortran, making it difficult to integrate with modern deep learning methods. To alleviate this problem, we introduce a software library, the Fortran-Keras Bridge (FKB). This two-way …

Computational Thinking And Literacy, Sharin Rawhiya Jacob, Mark Warschauer

Journal of Computer Science Integration

Today’s students will enter a workforce that is powerfully shaped by computing. To be successful in a changing economy, students must learn to think algorithmically and computationally, to solve problems with varying levels of abstraction. These computational thinking skills have become so integrated into social function as to represent fundamental literacies. However, computer science has not been widely taught in K-12 schools. Efforts to create computer science standards and frameworks have yet to make their way into mandated course requirements. Despite a plethora of research on digital literacies, research on the role of computational thinking in the literature is sparse. …

Two-Language, Two-Paradigm Introductory Computing Curriculum Model And Its Implementation, Vladimir Zanev, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This paper analyzes difficulties with the introduction of object-oriented concepts in introductory computing education and then proposes a two-language, two-paradigm curriculum model that alleviates such difficulties. Our two-language, two-paradigm curriculum model begins with teaching imperative programming using Python programming language, continues with teaching object-oriented computing using Java, and concludes with teaching object-oriented data structures with Java.

Freedom Of Choice As A Motivational Factor In Active Learning, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Freedom to choose what, when, and how to contribute in a learning process can motivate students to actively engage and achieve more in their studies. However, freedom of choice complicates course management and may deter instructors from allowing such freedom. Our approach is to utilize existing functionality of course management systems such as Moodle to automatically facilitate and coordinate free student choices and provide much needed relief for instructors at the same time. Using Moodle we have developed novel digital study packs that blend freedom of choice with guidance and control. Our survey shows that assisted freedom of choice is …

Digital Cs1 Study Pack Based On Moodle And Python, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Books and Book Chapters

We believe that CS1 courses can be made more attractive to students:

• by teaching a highly interactive scripting language – Python
• by using an open source course management system - such as Moodle - to make all course resources available in a comprehensive digital study pack, and
• by offering detailed self-guided online labs

We have used Moodle [1] and Python [2] to develop a "Python First" digital study pack [3] which comprises a wealth of new, original learning modules: extensive e-texts, detailed self-guided labs, numerous sample programs, quizzes, and slides. Our digital study pack pedagogy is described in recent ITiCSE …

The Java 5 Generics Compromise Orthogonality To Keep Compatibility, Atanas Radenski, Jeff Furlong, Vladimir Zanev

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In response to a long-lasting anticipation by the Java community, version 1.5 of the Java 2 platform - referred to as Java 5 - introduced generic types and methods to the Java language. The Java 5 generics are a significant enhancement to the language expressivity because they allow straightforward composition of new generic classes from existing ones while reducing the need for a plethora of type casts. While the Java 5 generics are expressive, the chosen implementation method, type erasure, has triggered undesirable orthogonality violations. This paper identifies six cases of orthogonality violations in the Java 5 generics and demonstrates …

Digital Support For Abductive Learning In Introductory Computing Courses, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Students who grew up browsing the Web are skilled in what is usually referred to as abduction, a reasoning process that starts with a set of specific observations and then generates the best possible explanation of those observations. In order to exploit the abduction skills of contemporary students, we have developed digital CS1/2 study packs that promote and support active learning through abduction, i.e., abductive learning. The study packs integrate a variety of digital resources: online self-guided labs, e-texts, tutorial links, sample programs, quizzes, and slides. These online packs stimulate students to learn abductively by browsing, searching, and performing self-guided …

Python First: A Lab-Based Digital Introduction To Computer Science, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The emphasis on Java and other commercial languages in CS1 has established the perception of computer science as a dry and technically difficult discipline among undecided students who are still seeking careers. This may not be a big problem during an enrolment boom, but in times of decreased enrolment such negative perception may have a devastating effect on computer science programs and therefore should not be ignored. We have made our CS1 course offerings more attractive to students (1) by introducing an easy to learn yet effective scripting language - Python, (2) by making all course resources available in a …

Handling The Subclassing Anomaly With Object Teams, Jeff Furlong, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Existing Java software or libraries can evolve via subclassing. Unfortunately, subclassing may not properly support code adaptation when there are dependencies between classes. More precisely, subclassing in collections of related classes may require reimplementation of otherwise valid classes. This problem is defined as the subclassing anomaly, which is an issue when software evolution or code reuse is a goal of the programmer who is using existing classes. Object Teams offers an implicit fix to this problem and is largely compatible with the existing JVM’s. In this paper, we evaluate how well Object Teams succeeds in providing a solution for a …