We are thrilled to present this year’s inspiring collection of 16 research stories from teachers who took part in the Teaching Inquiry in Computing Education (TICE) project during the 2024–2025 academic year. This week, the teachers involved in these projects have been sharing their experiences at the CKC 2025 conference, organised by King’s College London on Saturday, 5th July, and at CAS Online events. A big thank you to all the teachers for presenting their work.
What is TICE?
TICE is a programme that facilitates teacher-led action research by empowering classroom teachers to design and conduct small-scale research projects that address real challenges in their computing classrooms. Throughout the project, teachers receive support and guidance from experienced academics and researchers.
At the end of the programme, teachers write up their projects, and we publish them in a booklet.
TICE is about projects that matter to teachers. Here, we highlight some of the main themes from the 2024-2025 programme.
Making computing engaging
Many of this year’s projects centred on boosting student interest and promoting a more positive perception of computing. For example, Sonya Coakley-Hanan designed a Year 5 Computing Careers Week, helping young students see the rich variety of people and opportunities within computing.
Katie Hazel and Francesca Pizzorni Ferrarese explored how competitions might motivate girls to get involved in computing, while Poonam Elliott, Komal Kawa, and Emma Staves also focused their efforts on better engaging girls in the subject.
Other projects turned their attention to enriching the learning experience itself. Grace Oliver and Emma Staves shared their experiences with project-based learning, while Indulakshimi.VG examined how design thinking can empower students to tackle problems creatively.
Supporting the learning of programming
A significant number of projects tackled the challenges of building programming skills. Will Grey created a supportive environment to help Year 9 students transition from block-based to text-based coding. Komal Kawa compared three different ways to teach programming, and Alexandra Price used Python Turtle to introduce text-based programming to Year 8 learners.
Meanwhile, Karen Ahmed addressed the distractions that T Level students face when programming by testing a game-based approach to keep them on track.
The curriculum and AI
Curriculum design was another popular theme. Aysu McConnell investigated how the S1 computing curriculum in Scotland might influence students’ choices later on, while Alexandra Price and Poonam Elliott looked at how Key Stage 3 content shapes students’ future decisions. Nyree Scott took a different angle, exploring how new primary teachers’ own school experiences affect their views on computing today.
Finally, artificial intelligence emerged as a key area of interest this year. Matt Walker examined students’ attitudes towards AI and how they respond to tools like GenAI Teachable Machine. Geraldine Flatly designed a creative project using AI tools in the classroom, and George Walker surveyed staff about how AI is weaving its way into everyday teaching practice. These projects reflect the growing role of AI in schools today.
What you can do
This was our third year running TICE, and I’m continually amazed by the depth and ambition of our teachers’ work. I hope these stories spark new ideas for your own classroom — or perhaps inspire you to try out your own action research project in the future.
If you’d like to conduct your own computing inquiry project, you can find plenty of resources on the TICE website. We’re pausing for a short break next year, but keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved when we return in 2026 — we’d love to welcome you!
Thanks
A huge thank you goes to Bonnie Sheppard, who brings this booklet to life and keeps the project running smoothly behind the scenes, and to our dedicated support team, who guide teachers throughout the process. Thanks also to Computing At School (CAS) for funding in-person events and championing this work every step of the way. Thanks to all the teachers who participated and the researchers who helped!