Education Practice in Computing
EPiC conducts research into all aspects of teaching and learning Computer Science and works on developing frameworks, materials and tools for Computer Science education.
Research group focus
EPiC aims to improve access to computer science education through research, frameworks, and educational initiatives. Our activities include:
- Providing insight and opportunities for our students to contribute to solving real-world problems for industry
- Partnering with industry and schools to provide outreach and CPD experiences for staff and pupils to help widen participation
- Working with colleagues in the Computing Education Research community nationally and globally to share and develop pedagogical practice
- Using our expertise and experience to contribute to ongoing curriculum reviews
- Contributing to and supporting digital skill development both internally and externally to the University
Research impact
We work on creating frameworks, materials and tools for computer science education, and have a diverse portfolio of topics centred around this field. This includes:
- Developing pedagogical practices with appropriate and ethical use of artificial intelligence for teaching, assessment and student support
- Project-based learning in team and individual contexts
- Authentic assessment and
- Critical pedagogy approaches in computing
We also develop novel methods of teaching computing subjects, such as information disorder and teaching approaches for school children and those who are neurodivergent. This aids skill development and learning at all levels of computer science education and across other disciplines.
Key collaborators
We work closely with local schools on outreach activities and with Computing at Schools. We also have strong links with local authorities and industrial partners. Visit our Outreach page for more information. We are members of UK ACM SIGCSE ( UK Association for Computing Machinery: Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education), the REISE (Research, Evaluation and Innovation in STEM Education) Network and the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee. We work with other Computing Education Research groups including, Edinburgh Computer Science Education (CSE) group and the Digital Learning Laboratory at Northumbria University.
Group members
- Dr Marie Devlin (Group Leader)
- Dr Laura Heels (Acting Group Leader)
- Dr John Colquhoun
- Dr Konrad Dabrowski
- Chinomnso Ekwedike
- Dr Laura Heels
- Dr John Mace
- Professor Lindsay Marshall
- Chris Napier
- Dr Dan Nesbitt
- Prof Chris Phillips
- Kartik Ramachandran
- Dr Steve Riddle
- Dr Jennifer Warrender
- Dr Rouaa Yassin Kassab