Date
Publisher
arXiv
Computer science education is a dynamic field with many aspects that
influence the learner's path. While these aspects are usually studied in depth
separately, it is also important to carry out broader large-scale studies that
touch on many topics, because they allow us to put different results into each
other's perspective. Past large-scale surveys have provided valuable insights,
however, the emergence of new trends (e.g., AI), new learning formats (e.g.,
in-IDE learning), and the increasing learner diversity highlight the need for
an updated comprehensive study. To address this, we conducted a survey with
18,032 learners from 173 countries, ensuring diverse representation and
exploring a wide range of topics - formal education, learning formats, AI
usage, challenges, motivation, and more. This paper introduces the results of
this survey as an open dataset, describes our methodology and the survey
questions, and highlights, as a motivating example, three possible research
directions within this data: challenges in learning, emerging formats, and
insights into the in-IDE format. The dataset aims to support further research
and foster advancements in computer education.
Study at a glance
- Question: What are the current experiences, learning formats, AI use, and challenges of computer science learners worldwide?
- Setting and data: 18,032 learners from 173 countries.
- Method: Survey.
Why it matters
New trends like AI, new learning formats, and increasing learner diversity highlight the need for an updated comprehensive study. Broader large-scale studies are needed to put different aspects of computer science education into each other's perspective.
Key findings
- Among 18,032 computer science learners across 173 countries, students reported using artificial intelligence alongside diverse learning formats and facing varied educational challenges.
- Computer science education increasingly features emerging formats, notably students learning directly inside software development environments alongside traditional formal education.
- Learner diversity and artificial intelligence trends shape the dynamic educational pathways, motivations, and learning challenges that computer science students experience.
Summary drafted with AI from the paper’s abstract and may contain errors. See the full paper for details.
What is the application?
Who is the user?
Who age?
Why use AI?
Study design

