Qualitative research in computer science education

Abstract

oritha@ tx, yael@ cs, elarisa@ tx, vmsvicky@ tx, tmariana@ tx {.technion.ac.il} ABSTRACT This paper discusses the suitability of the qualitative research approach to computer science education research. It is based on the following two observations: First, only a small proportion of works presented in the computer science education literature contain some experimental component (Fincher and Petre, 2004;Valentine, 2004). Second, those research works conducted in computer science education that do, usually employ a quantitative research approach. This paper focuses on the qualitative research approach, presenting its nature, discussing its relationships to the quantitative research approach and addressing its application in general and in the context of computer science education in particular.

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