A comparison of the methodological quality of articles in computer science education journals and conference proceedings

Abstract

In this study we empirically investigate the claim that articles published in computer science education journals are more methodologically sound than articles published in computer science education conference proceedings. A random sample of 352 articles was selected from those articles published in major computer science education forums between 2000 and 2005. Each article was then coded in terms of five indicators of methodological quality. It was found that there were no practically or statistically significant differences between the articles published in journals and those published in conference proceedings on any of the indicators of methodological quality. One implication of this finding is that those who evaluate the academic output of computer science education researchers should be wary of arbitrarily prescribing more academic merit to journal publications than conference publications.