Updated since first version: Student conference grant and DC deadlines added. Page counts were adjusted, as the single-column format takes more space. Poster bibliography is now allowed to overflow to third page. Formatting information has been moved to a separate submission guide.

We invite you to submit a paper or poster for the 21st Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli Calling 2021) for the second virtual Koli, hosted around the world and from Finland, 18-21 November 2021.

Koli Calling is one of the leading international conferences dedicated to the scholarship of teaching and learning and to education research in the computing disciplines. Koli Calling is a single-track conference for original and novel work with research, practice and systems presentations as well as a keynote and invited talks. The conference is known for its moderate size, intimate atmosphere, and lively discussions.

Due to the continuing pandemic and travel restrictions around the world, we will again meet online. We will be combining an on-line academic presentation and discussion program with local clusters of researchers around the world. We are strongly committed to maintaining the essence of Koli, facilitating online interaction, with many feedback opportunities.

Submitting to Koli will still mean full peer review, presentation at the Koli Conference, publication in the conference proceedings, and connections to the Koli Community, but will not require you to travel at a time when international travel is both challenging and a little concerning. This will be an excellent, informative, and worthwhile online conference at a much lower price than usual.

We welcome submissions in the area of computing education: the teaching and learning of computing topics. Within that broad scope, contributions may involve one or more of the following:

• Empirical studies of computing education;
• Teaching approaches and assessment in computing education;
• Development, use, and evaluation of tools to support computing education;
• Theory in computing education;
• The learning of computing in any context; e.g., higher education, K-12, informal learning, lifelong learning, teachers’ professional development;
• Distance, online, and blended learning of computing topics;
• Learning analytics and educational data mining in the area of computing education;
• Methodological development and instruments for computing education research;
• Reviews to support computing education or computing education research;
• Any other aspects of the teaching and/or learning computing topics. 

Please note that generic educational technology and applications of computing for educational purposes are not in scope, except where they are used for computing education.

Submission Categories

Research papers (up to 16 pages single column / 10 pages double column ) present high-quality research. Most research papers can be described as empirical, theoretical, system, or review papers.

• Empirical papers report on studies that collect and analyse empirical data and employ methods rigorously, whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed.
• Theoretical papers formulate, extend, apply, critically evaluate, or otherwise discuss theory for the purpose of improving computing education or computing education research. The discussion is grounded in the research literature and advances the field.
• System papers present a software system or other tool. System papers in the research-papers category must not only describe the tool and its purpose but also evaluate it. Evaluation will typically involve empirical data collection, but other incisive forms of evaluation (e.g., critical argumentation derived from theory) can be considered.
• Review papers survey the literature on a particular topic.

Short papers (up to 8 pages single column / 5 pages double column) disseminate and discuss new ideas and promising initiatives in computing education practice or research. Examples of short papers include:

• Short empirical papers, which are limited in scope or produce tentative results but are nevertheless of interest to the computing education research community and suggest paths for future research. 
• Short system papers, which describe a tool that has perhaps not yet been evaluated in practice or has only been evaluated with a simple opinion survey.
• Discussion papers, which propose an innovation, debate a theoretical issue, or advance a cause. The argumentation must be solidly grounded in the research literature. A discussion paper must provide fresh perspectives or insights and present a compelling case to indicate how it promotes discussion and raises questions for future research to answer.

Poster/demo papers (2-page abstract + bibliography) are presentations of emerging ideas for research, teaching practice, or tools. Where this has previously been interactive, we welcome video recordings for this year showing the tool or idea in action.

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For all accepted works, the method of final presentation will be discussed closer to the time of the conference. We expect all authors will participate in the final conference, being available for discussion, as part of their presentation. Live presentations are strongly preferred. Students with financial need can apply for one of a limited number of grants to waive the conference fee.

All papers will be evaluated prior to review to ensure that they are clearly in the right track, have been correctly anonymised, and are ready to be reviewed by the program committee. Each paper that goes to review receives at least three reviews, with senior PC moderation of the review process.

Important Dates

All deadlines are Anywhere on Earth (AoE), which is UTC-12.

Submission deadline (research papers, short papers): Midnight 23rd July
Extended submission deadline (see below): Midnight 30th July
Notification of acceptance (papers): Monday 20th September
Student conference grant deadline: Midnight 22nd September
Submission deadline (posters, demo papers, and DC): Midnight 22nd September
Notification of acceptance (posters and demo papers): Tuesday 5th October
Submission of revised manuscripts (all categories): Midnight 7th October

Registration starts: 21st September
Conference registration deadline: 11th November (week before conference start)

Conference: Thursday, November 18 to Sunday, November 21, with sessions arranged across time-zones, and scheduled meetups and social activities.

Extended submission deadline: For research papers and short papers we offer a re-submission slack of exactly one week. If a paper is submitted by the first deadline, it will be possible to submit updated versions of the paper until Midnight 30th of July. Papers that are not first submitted by 23rd of July, or that are not reasonably complete at that time, will not be considered.

Authors please note: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available. This date is expected to be one week prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.

Associated Workshops

Any associated workshops will be advertised prior to the conference.

Paper Formatting and Length Requirements

For full information on formatting and Koli policies, see the submission guide.

We look forward to welcoming you to Koli!

Organized by

Aalto University
University of Toronto Mississauga
University of Eastern Finland