Dissertation, Bernadette Spieler
Titel: “Development and Evaluation of Concepts and Tools to Reinforce Gender Equality by Engaging Female Teenagers in Coding”
Graz, 2018
Supervisor/First reviewer: Univ.-Prof. Dipl-Ing. Dr.techn. Wolfgang Slany
Second reviewer: Univ.-Prof. Dr.habil. PhD Libora Oates-Indruchová
Download: Dissertation_BernadetteSpieler.pdf
PECC Framework: Playing, Engagement, Creativity, Creating
Promoting Gender-Sensitive Computer Science Education
The PECC Framework — Playing, Engagement, Creativity, Creating — is a research-based pedagogical model designed to foster inclusive and gender-sensitive computer science education. Developed over six years through design-based research across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, PECC empowers educators to create learning environments that promote interest, self-efficacy, belonging, and enjoyment among all students, especially girls. It bridges theory and practice, offering concrete guidance, lesson plans, and tools that support equity in coding and making activities both in and beyond the classroom.
PECC has been adopted in schools, teacher education, and extracurricular programs, and is continuously refined based on empirical studies and educator feedback.
Link to recent publication: https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14070249

Download:
- PECC-Guidelines (in German): https://digitalswitzerland.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MINT-Whitepaper_Empfehlungen-Separat_final.pdf
- PECC Assessment
- Storyboard for game design
- Example lesson plan
- Survey for intrinsic motivators
Selected Publications:
Bernadette Spieler, Sarina Gursch, Vesna Krnjic, Karin Horneck, Wolfgang Slany (2024)Designing, Coding and Embroidering: A Workflow for Gender-Sensitive and Interdisciplinary Teaching . International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 19(06), pp. 79–104. DOI: 10.3991/ijet.v19i06.48591
Spieler, B; Oates-Induchovà, L.; and Slany, W. (2020)Female Teenagers in Computer Science Education: Understanding Stereotypes, Negative Impacts, and Positive Motivation. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. 26 (5). p. 473–510. DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2020028567
Spieler, B. (2024)Empfehlungen für gendersensible MINT-Angebote für Schülerinnen am Beispiel der Schweiz. In: Jeanrenaud, Y. (eds) Teaching Gender in MINT in der Pandemie. Edition Fachdidaktiken. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-43375-8_5
Spieler, B. (2022)Gendersensible Gestaltung eines Computational-Thinking-Kurses mit Hilfe des PECC-Modells. In: R. Knackstedt, J. Sander, J. Kolomitchouk (Hrsg.) Kompetenzmodelle für den Digitalen Wandel: Orientierungshilfen und Anwendungsbeispiele, Springer-Verlag GmbH, Berlin, Deutschland, S. 183–201. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-63673-2_9
Spieler B. und Girvan, C. (2020)Das PECC-Framework: Gender-Sensibilität und spielerische Programmierung in der informatischen Grundbildung. In: Zender, R., Ifenthaler, D., Leonhardt, T. & Schumacher, C. (Hrsg.), DELFI 2020 – Die 18. Fachtagung Bildungstechnologien der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. https://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/34203
Spieler B., Mikats J., Valentin S., Oates-Indruchová L., Slany W. (2020)«RemoteMentor» Evaluation of Interactions Between Teenage Girls, Remote Tutors, and Coding Activities in School Lessons. In: Zaphiris P., Ioannou A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. Designing, Developing and Deploying Learning Experiences. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12205. Springer, Cham. pp. 547–567. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50513-4_40
Spieler B.; Grandl, M.; and Krnjic, V. (2020)The hAPPy-Lab: A Gender-Conscious Way To Learn Coding Basics in an Open Makerspace Setting. International Conference on Informatics in School: Situation, Evaluation, Problems, November 16–18, 2020, Tallinn, Estonia. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2755/paper6.pdf
Spieler, B.; Kemeny, F.; Landerl, K.; Binder, B.; and Slany. W. (2020)The learning value of game design activities: Association between computational thinking and cognitive skills. In: Proceedings of the 15th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE), 28.–30.10.2020, Essen, Germany (Online).
Spieler B.; Krnjic, V.; and Slany, W. (2019)Girls Create Games: Lessons Learned. 13th European Conference on Games Based Learning. 2.–3.10.2019, Odense, Denmark, pp. 675–684.
Spieler B. (2018)Reinforcing Gender Equality by Analysing Female Teenagers’ Performances in Coding Activities: A Lesson Learned. In Proceedings of Conference on Gender IT 2018 /GEWINN-Konferenz 24.–25.5.2018, Heilbronn, Germany, 8 pages. DOI: 10.1145/3196839.3196871
Spieler B. and Slany, W. (2018)Female Teenagers and Coding: Create Gender Sensitive and Creative Learning Environments. In: Proceedings of Constructionism, 20.–25.8.2018, Vilnius, Lithuania, pp. 625–636. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.1805.04366
Spieler B. and Slany, W. (2018)Game Development-Based Learning Experience: Gender Differences in Game Design. 12th European Conference on Games Based Learning. 4.–5.10.2018, Sophia Antipolis, France, pp. 616–625. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.1805.04457