My general field of study includes how computer science and computational thinking curriculum have expanded in K-12 schools. I will be honest and say that it was challenging to find dissertations relating to computer science education of any kind. However, I did find three dissertations on computer science curriculum in education.

In the first dissertation, Hosseini (2018) researches and explores how to support students' acquisition of program construction skills through working examples. The study used a mixed-method approach by implementing a pre-and post-test involving the related activities and two student surveys to gather qualitative data. The general field was situated in the area of computer science education research. In addition, the special field focused on the learning and teaching of computer science and, more specifically, working examples.

In the second dissertation, O'Neal (2019) was clearly a qualitative analysis to explore any theories in the steps of learning computer science/programming to that of the developmental stages of literacy skills. The general fields of study include computer science and programming skills and the developmental stages of literacy, while the special field focuses on the theories that may relate the two.

In the third dissertation, Weinberg (2013) focuses on computational thinking related to computer science skills. The dissertation has two parts, the first examines current literature on computational thinking, and the second part describes how computational thinking is incorporated into the K-12 setting. This dissertation does not include a research component of its own other than researching and evaluating former literature. Nevertheless, the dissertation format was engaging, and I enjoyed the extensive evaluation of the literature.

I want to emulate how Hosseini (2018) formated the literature review. While the literature review was about computer science education, it focused on the special field that does not apply to my research. However, the formatting is relatable. The author explains the following:

The first four areas provide the theoretical background for my dissertation and review related work on examples. The last two areas review work on systems and tools that are related to the platform that I used in conducting my studies. Specifically, the fifth area reviews the tools for assessing each student's program construction knowledge. The sixth area reviews existing resources that parallel my dissertation, integrating the use of program examples and problems (Hosseini, 2018, p. 10)

I also like how thorough O'Neal (2019) was in the literature review portion. The literature review was clearly defined from other parts of the dissertation. I plan to implement the same format. One other aspect I particularly liked in her dissertation that I would like to emulate is relating computer science to literacy skills at the elementary school level as it directly applies to my topic. O'Neal (2019) wrote the following:

Programming and writing have a complicated association. Programming is considered a form of writing because symbols are used to create a message to read. Although programming is more than writing, it is a planned sequence of symbols that will be read, executed, or run, by the computer (O'Neal, 2019, p. 10).

What I would do differently is to explain the background importance more in-depth than Hosseini did in his dissertation. I would focus on my general field before moving into the special field review. The excerpt from his dissertation above is the same example I would use for this section.

Hosseini, R. (2018). Program construction examples in computer science education: From static text to adaptive and engaging learning technology [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Pittsburgh.

O'Neal, R. E. (2019). Computer programming/coding, robotics and literacy: A qualitative content analysis [Doctoral Dissertation, Sam Houston State University]. Sam Houston State University. https://shsu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11875/2725/ONEAL-DISSERTATION-2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Weinberg, A. E. (2013). Computational thinking: An investigation of the existing scholarship and research [Doctoral Dissertation, Colorado State University]. Colorado State University. http://hdl.handle.net/10217/78883