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Danish computer scientist Michael Edelgaard Caspersen (born in 1960 in Svenborg, Denmark) has spent his academic life furthering computer science education, at all levels. His research interests are computing education, programming didactics,
programming methodology In software engineering, a software development process is a process of dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or sequential steps or sub-processes to improve design, product management. It is also known as a software deve ...
, and object-oriented programming. He is best known for his work on computing education research and development, particularly his work to promote
informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...
as a fundamental discipline for all. Michael has developed pedagogical approaches to teaching programming and program development, and his consistent and thorough use of hypothesis testing during his research has set a standard for the field. He was one of the first to use cognitive load theory in this research. Michael has served roles in developing informatics education in Danish high schools and, by personal invitation of the Minister of Education, at the primary and lower secondary levels. He also has provided leadership within the
ACM ACM or A.C.M. may refer to: Aviation * AGM-129 ACM, 1990–2012 USAF cruise missile * Air chief marshal * Air combat manoeuvring or dogfighting * Air cycle machine * Arica Airport (Colombia) (IATA: ACM), in Arica, Amazonas, Colombia Computing * ...
and on various groups in Europe to improve computing/informatics education throughout Europe.


Education

Michael was born in Svendborg, Denmark. He went to Nordre Skole for primary and lower secondary school and to Svendborg Statsgymnasium for upper secondary school. He earned an
M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in computer science from
Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
. At Aarhus University, Michael was exposed to world-class computing education; new ideas of programming methodology developed by
Dijkstra Dijkstra ( or ) is a Dutch family name of West Frisian origin. It most commonly refers to: * Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002), Dutch computer scientist ** Named after him: Dijkstra's algorithm, Dijkstra Prize, Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm Dijks ...
found their way into the first-year course, as did relational algebra,
coloured Petri nets Coloured Petri nets are a backward compatible extension of the mathematical concept of Petri nets. Coloured Petri nets preserve useful properties of Petri nets and at the same time extend the initial formalism to allow the distinction between to ...
, and the semantics of programs. This educational experience had a profound impact on Michael's perspective on computing and devotion to computer science education, leading to his PhD thesis.


Personal life

Michael E. Caspersen is married to Susanne Caspersen; they have two children, Christina and Christopher, and four grandchildren, Filippa, Lucca, Asta, and Petra.


Leadership roles: Education in Computer Science / Informatics

Michael has been a major force for improving education in computing at all levels on a national and international scale. * Founding member and first chair of the Danish CS Educators' Association (1995-2000). * Founding member of the Scandinavian Pedagogy of Programming Network established in 2004, leading to publication of a book, a novel and innovative collection of contributions that address all aspects of teaching programming. * Chair or co-chair five Danish Ministerial groups on various aspects of computing. * Co-chair of the Committee on European Computing Education (CECE), which was created to foster further development of informatics education at all levels in Europe. * Second Chair (the first chair was Dame Wendy Hall) of the coalition Informatics for All, which was formed in 2018; its members are the ACM Europe Council, the CEPIS Education Committee, Informatics Europe, and IFIP. * Member of the Digital Council of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV), and a member of its Steering Committee for Science & Engineering in Education. (2018-) * Special Advisor on Digital Education and Skills to the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager (2022-2023)


Selected technical contributions


The programming process

*2007. PhD thesis: Educating Novices in the Skills of Programming *2009. STREAM: A First programming process *2018. Principles of programming education


Indicators of success

*2005. An Investigation of potential success factors for an introductory model-driven programming course *2006. Abstraction ability as an indicator of success for learning object-oriented programmings *2007. Mental models and programming aptitude *2008. Optimists have more fun, but do they learn better? On the influence of emotional and social factors on learning introductory computer science *2008. Abstraction ability as an indicator of success for learning computing science?


Exemplary Examples (Example Program Quality)

*2007. Beauty and the Beast – Toward a Measurement Framework for Example Program Quality *2015. Beauty and the Beast: on the readability of object-oriented example programs *2008. Evaluating OO example programs for CS1


Informatics for all

*2013. Computational Thinking and Practice — A Generic Approach to Computing in Danish High Schools *2014. Model-based thinking and practice: a top-down approach to computational thinking


Failure rates in intro programming

*2007. Failure rates in introductory programming *2019. Failure rates in introductory programming: 12 years late


Cognitive load theory in computing education

*2007. PhD thesis: Educating Novices in the Skills of Programming *2007. Instructional design of a programming course: a learning theoretic approach


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caspersen, Michael E. 1960 births Living people Computer science educators Formal methods people Computer science writers 20th-century Danish academics 21st-century Danish educators