Computing Education Things

Daniel Prol

A podcast about the world of computer science education. If you enjoy teaching people how to become better computer scientists and discovering new ways to learn CS, this podcast is for you!

Episodes

  1. E4: Teaching the course LLMs for Software Engineering with Danny Yellin

    14/12/2025

    E4: Teaching the course LLMs for Software Engineering with Danny Yellin

    About this episode Danny Yellin worked for IBM for 35 years and managed many large software R&D teams, including IBM Research, Mobile offerings and IBM Cloud. He has a PhD in Computer Science from Columbia University and is currently a Faculty Lecturer at Reichman University in Israel. We talked about his proposed curriculum on LLMs for software engineering, how colleges should approach AI in their curricula, the different views on computing education for the AI era and the use of AI in teaching CS. Where to find Danny LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-yellin-9878154/ Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qfEhHz8AAAAJ&hl=es References: Software Engineering and Large Language Models: What university students need to know: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/software-engineering-large-language-models-what-students-danny-yellin-k0rne/?trackingId=L6%2F1I7QHqhO8TMbzQyZ8xA%3D%3D Syllabus for "LLMs for Software Engineering": https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7401911808388923392/?originTrackingId=0yc3qIrmmwx%2FGuhayEFqWg%3D%3D AI Tools for Software Development (Carnegie Mellon): https://ai-developer-tools.github.io College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (UW-Madison): https://cai.wisc.edu/ Learn AI-Assisted Python Programming: https://www.manning.com/books/learn-ai-assisted-python-programming-second-edition Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani: https://youtu.be/dHIppEqwi0g?si=a9NvIRRcDLFFG_tY The Minimum Every Developer Must Know About AI Models (No Excuses!): https://blog.kilo.ai/p/minimum-every-developer-must-know-about-ai-models About the podcast You can watch the full episode on Youtube. Or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcast app of choice. Thanks for listening! If you are interested in these topics, I have a weekly newsletter that you may want to subscribe to: https://computingeducationthings.substack.com/

    31 min
  2. E3: Evaluating Code Reading Skills in Intro CS with Ibrahim Albluwi

    21/06/2025

    E3: Evaluating Code Reading Skills in Intro CS with Ibrahim Albluwi

    Ibrahim Albluwi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan. In this episode, we talk about his new ACM TOCE paper, "Varying Program Input to Assess Code Reading Skills," and the question of how we can evaluate code readability and comprehension in intro CS. In this episode, you'll learn: The importance of code reading skillsUnderstanding code: tracing vs. explanationVariable Input Tracing: a new approachTeaching code reading skillsThe role of AI in code readingDebugging and its importanceAbout the guest Ibrahim is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan. His research interests focus on computer science education. He is primarily interested in improving our understanding of how to effectively teach and assess programming, algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving. Where to find Ibrahim Website: https://ialbluwi.github.io/index.html  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahim-albluwi-3898b1b/  Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RQxMuuv3_W4C&hl=en  Papers referenced: Varying Program Input to Assess Code Reading Skills https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3737884 Other referenced: Vibe Coding Among CS Students https://medium.com/@dannyprol/vibe-coding-among-cs-students-68a8861df436  Code Reading Club: https://codereading.club/  About the podcast You can watch the full episode on Youtube. Or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcast app of choice. Thanks for listening! Catch Up on Computing Education Things Newsletter: https://computingeducationthings.substack.com/

    33 min
  3. E2: Visualization Tools in Computing Education with Naaz Sibia

    17/06/2025

    E2: Visualization Tools in Computing Education with Naaz Sibia

    About this Episode In today’s episode, I sit down with Naaz Sibia, a CS PhD student from University of Toronto, to explore the role of visualization tools in computing education. Naaz helps us understand the concept of visualization for CS Education, shares how visualizations can be applied to learn different themes of computing concepts, and we explore how she has navigated the challenges that face CS educators and curriculum design. In this episode, you'll learn: The importance of visualization in computing educationEngagement and teaching methods in visualizationApplications of visualization in algorithms and dataCognitive load and attention in learningEnhancing online learning with visual toolsCritical thinking and problem solving through visualizationAbout the guest Naaz Sibia is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Toronto (UofT), co-supervised by Professors Carolina Nobre and Michael Liut. Her research focuses on using interactive visualizations to improve introductory programming education, enhancing student belonging and engagement online, and exploring the role of reflective prompts in flipped classrooms. Where to find Naaz Sibia Website: https://www.naazsibia.com/  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naaz-sibia/  Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=r60zG3UAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao Papers referenced: Exploring the Role of Visualization Tools in Enhancing Computing Education: A Systematic Literature Review https://scholar.google.ca/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=r60zG3UAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=r60zG3UAAAAJ:_kc_bZDykSQC  SQLVis paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9576431  Tools referenced: https://algorithm-visualizer.org/  https://blog.levelupcoding.com/  About the podcast You can watch the full episode on Youtube. Or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcast app of choice. Thanks for listening! Catch Up on Computing Education Things Newsletter: https://computingeducationthings.substack.com/

    28 min
  4. E1: Teaching programming with graphics with Matthias Hauswirth

    11/06/2025

    E1: Teaching programming with graphics with Matthias Hauswirth

    In today’s episode, I sit down with Matthias Hauswirth, Associate Professor at USI (Università della Svizzera italiana), where he leads LuCE, the Lugano Computing Education research lab. Matthias and his team built a great site to learn programming with graphics. It's called PyTamaro, and Matthias is here to tell us about it. In this episode, you'll learn: 00:00 Introduction to PyTamaro and Graphics in Programming02:38 Engaging Students Through Graphics and Programming06:00 The Importance of Problem Decomposition08:56 Teaching Programming Concepts with PyTamaro11:46 How to use PyTamaro to teach Python programming14:42 Exploring the PyTamaro Library and Activities About the guest Matthias Hauswirth is an Associate Professor at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland, where he leads LuCE, the Lugano Computing Education research lab at the Software Institute. His research focuses on how people learn to program. His recent work includes ExpressionTutor.org for teaching expression evaluation; PyTamaro for teaching python programming with graphics; and Progmiscon.org, a comprehensive inventory of programming misconceptions. Where to find Matthias Hauswirth Website: https://hauswirth.github.io/ Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rIy8rOoAAAAJ&hl=en References PyTamaro: https://pytamaro.si.usi.ch/ About the podcast You can watch the full episode on Youtube. Or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcast app of choice. Thanks for listening! Catch Up on Computing Education Things Newsletter: https://computingeducationthings.substack.com/

    35 min

About

A podcast about the world of computer science education. If you enjoy teaching people how to become better computer scientists and discovering new ways to learn CS, this podcast is for you!