TICE Research Presentations - CAS Research online event

TICE Research Presentations: Exploring Tools and Insights to Enhance Computing Education

Three practitioner-researchers shared their work during the latest CAS Research Community meeting, showcasing action research from the Teacher Inquiry in Computing Education (TICE) programme. The session highlighted a range of classroom-focused interventions exploring how we can better support learners in debugging, decision-making, and developing programming comprehension.

Debugging with LitterBox in Primary Code Clubs

Rachael Coultart began the session by introducing LitterBox, a web-based analysis tool for Scratch projects developed from German research. In her Code Club with Year 5–6 learners, she found that LitterBox offered an effective scaffold to support children's debugging, particularly when interpreting hints proved challenging.

The tool identifies three types of output: "perfumes" (positive patterns), "smells" (suboptimal structures), and "bugs" (non-functioning code). Rachael noted that students were initially motivated by the analysis results — often proud of the number of "perfumes" they received — though this excitement didn’t always persist. More able students especially benefitted from the insight into refining their code, with notable improvements in initialisation and sprite naming.

Interestingly, LitterBox proved just as helpful for Rachael as it did for her pupils. It helped structure conversations about programming, making debugging a collaborative rather than instructional process. While she now introduces it more selectively, she continues to use its investigative prompts to promote code comprehension discussions aligned with the PRIMM pedagogy.

Girls’ Choices and Perceptions at GCSE

Alex Price’s research focused on a pressing issue in secondary computing education: the gender imbalance in Computer Science GCSE uptake. Noting that girls constituted only a small proportion of cohorts in her school (sometimes under 10%), she conducted surveys and focus groups with Year 8 and Year 9 students to explore their decision-making.

Three themes emerged:

• Usefulness: While girls recognised the societal value of computing, they often viewed it as irrelevant to their own career paths.
• Interest: Engagement was tied closely to topic and activity design. Many expressed a preference for hands-on or creative projects and noted that textual programming felt dry and confusing.
• Difficulty: Perceptions of computer science as difficult were widespread, especially around textual programming and abstract concepts.

Surprisingly, very few girls cited belonging or gender dynamics as a reason for opting out. Instead, their decisions were shaped more by personal relevance and curriculum structure — with Year 9 being a computing-free zone in the timetable, pupils had limited exposure before making option choices.

Alex’s follow-up intervention used Turtle graphics in Python, applying Universal Design for Learning principles and PRIMM-style teaching. Early feedback suggested this visual and creative approach increased enjoyment and confidence.

Code Comprehension with FLARE

Justin Heath concluded the session with an overview of FLARE: a questioning framework inspired by the "Block Model" of code comprehension. His work stemmed from a realisation that while we teach children to write code, we rarely teach them to read or interpret it in a structured way — a bit like expecting them to write sentences before they can speak them.

FLARE breaks code comprehension into four dimensions:

• Block – individual blocks (the "vocabulary" of code)
• Segment – connected code performing a task
• Relation – how segments interact (e.g., message passing)
• Macro – the purpose and organisation of a whole program

Justin developed a bank of differentiated question stems to help teachers spark deeper discussions. For example, instead of asking “What does this program do?”, teachers might ask “What happens second after the space key is pressed?” or “What would happen if we swapped these blocks?”

In classroom trials with three primary teachers (each using different platforms), responses were positive. Teachers appreciated the structured support, especially those less confident in computing. One noted that it helped children become more analytical; another said students began asking more questions themselves. The framework also proved helpful for formative assessment — enabling meaningful classroom conversations about code.

Next Steps

If you're reflecting on your own teaching, consider the following questions:

• Do my learners get opportunities to read and analyse code before writing it?
• How do I structure debugging support without doing the thinking for pupils?
• Are girls given meaningful and visible pathways into computing from an early stage?
• Do my questioning strategies encourage deep thinking and dialogue about programming?

Here are some practical ideas you could try:

• Use LitterBox in a guided group session to explore the smells, bugs, and perfumes in a project.
• Invite learners to critique existing Scratch programs using the FLARE questioning prompts.
• Ask pupils to sketch what they think a program does before running it, then compare with the actual output.
• Discuss with students how computing might apply to creative or personally relevant contexts.

Further Resources

FLARE research paper 

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