Valuing computer science education research?

Abstract

This paper critically enquires into the value systems which rule the activities of teaching and research. This critique is intended to demonstrate the application of critical enquiry in Computer Science Education Research and therefore uses critical theory as a method of analysis. A framework of Research as a Discourse is applied to explore how the notions of research as opposed to teaching are presented, and how discipline and research communities are sustained. The concept of a discourse, based upon the work of Foucault, enables critical insight into the processes which regulate forms of thought. This paper positions the field of Computer Science Education Research, as an illustrative case, within the broader discourse of Research, and argues that Computer Science Education Researchers and educators need to understand and engage in this discourse and shape it to their own ends.