What do we mean by theoretically sound research in Computer Science Education? Organisers: Panelists: Shirley Booth Department of Education Lund University Lund, Sweden Shirley.Booth@pedagog.lu.se Mordechai Ben-Ari Department of Science Teaching Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel moti.ben-ari@weizmann.ac.il Anders Berglund Department of information technology Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden Anders.Berglund@it.uu.se Christian Holmboe Dept. of Informatics University of Oslo Oslo, Norway christian.holmboe@ifi.uio.no ABSTRACT With our interest to improve our education in computer science, an understanding of how students learn about CS concepts, how different concepts are understood, as well as the conditions for learning, become important issues. A better understanding of our students and their learning gives us a strong tool in our efforts to develop teaching. There is an increasing awareness of the usefulness of theoretically sound research approaches: it opens for generalisations of results, it invites comparison between researchers, methods and results, and at the same time it makes the limits of the research visible. As examples on initiatives that have lately been taken to promote a conscious use of relevant research approaches, can be mentioned the bootstrapping project [13], the special issue on import and export of Computer Science Education (to appear), as well as papers offering overviews of the current use of certain approaches ([4], [8]) and attempts to verbalize models for a successful research process ([5], [6], [12]). These initiatives do not advocate the primacy of a certain approach over others. This openness is well-grounded, since "a particular approach offers certain perspectives on a research question, and, in this way, enables the researcher to study [these] aspects of learning, while other aspects, that are not in focus using the selected approach, become unclear or 'blurred'" (Berglund, submitted for review). Thus, the selection an approach is closely intertwined with the research question under investigation. In this panel, the theoretical foundations for four different research approaches will be described, and examples of research performed within each of these approaches will be given. The examples will serve to illuminate which kinds of results that can be offered by a particular approach, and thereby illustrate its use. Keywords Computer science education, research approaches, action research, cognitive theories, socio-cultural research perspective, phenomenography. ACTION RESEARCH Shirley Booth The only way to understand and improve the complex field of Computer Science Education is to be able to see the principles, the concepts, the skills, the necessary competences and capabilities of the computer scientist from the perspectives of the learners. And the only way to achieve this understanding is to conduct research into it. In other words, research into student understanding and learning is paramount in Computer Science Education research. There are a number of theoretically sound approaches to such research, and at one level we might call for "horses for courses" -- call for the adoption of approaches that fit the issue in question. At another level we might adhere to one theoretically sound research approach and turn the issues into its spotlight. Or we might choose to tackle a programme of research issues within a single approach. But there are overriding features of such research, whatever its theoretical grounding, related to its methodological underpinnings and the pragmatic framework in which it is located. Action research is suggested as one way of ensuring that these features contribute to the validity of the research results and the successful implementation of them in practice. The action researcher questions his or her own research activities at every turn, considering reflexively their own role and influence in the research process. The nature of knowledge, the nature of the learners, and the nature of social setting for the research all have to be addressed explicitly. So whatever the theoretical approach to the research on students learning and understanding, I am proposing an investigative shell of action research. COGNITIVE THEORIES Mordechai Ben-Ari Cognitive psychology attempts to present theories of thinking as opposed to behavioral psychology which describes external