Luca Chiodini
About
Hi! I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the Software Institute — USI, Lugano (🇨🇭),
where I work in the LuCE research lab.
There I obtained a PhD with a dissertation on teaching introductory programming using graphics as a domain
under the supervision of Matthias Hauswirth.
I also spent a semester abroad at Aalto University (🇫🇮)
under the supervision of Juha Sorva.
My interests in computer science are broad,
but my heart lies in teaching.
This curriculum describes my path, in case you are interested.
Contacts
If you want to get in touch, feel free to write an email to luca@chiodini.org.
Research
I have been working on improving programming education from several angles.
I investigated misconceptions about programming languages,
the role of expressions while learning Java,
and methodological issues with ad hoc instruments for computing education research.
My current main project is PyTamaro,
an approach to teach programming using the domain of graphics in an engaging way,
emphasizing abstraction and problem decomposition.
I created an open-source Python library
and a web platform which hosts hundreds of activities
and dozens of curricula currently used by teachers at multiple educational levels.
Publications
-
Teaching Introductory Programming Using Graphics as a Domain
[PDF]
Doctoral Dissertation — Luca Chiodini
-
Surveying Upper-Secondary Teachers on Programming Misconceptions
[PDF]
[DOI]
ICER '25 — Luca Chiodini, Joey Bevilacqua, Matthias Hauswirth
-
The Toolbox of Functions: Teaching Code Reuse in Schools
[PDF]
[Poster]
[DOI]
ECSEE '25 — Luca Chiodini, Joey Bevilacqua, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Two Approaches for Programming Education in the Domain of Graphics: An Experiment
[PDF]
[DOI]
‹Programming› '25 — Luca Chiodini, Juha Sorva, Arto Hellas, Otto Seppälä, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Assessing the Understanding of Expressions: A Qualitative Study of Notional-Machine-Based Exam Questions
[PDF]
[DOI]
Koli Calling '24 — Joey Bevilacqua, Luca Chiodini, Igor Moreno Santos, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Judicious: API Documentation for Novices
[PDF]
[DOI]
SPLASH-E '24 — Luca Chiodini, Simone Piatti, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Using Notional Machines to Automatically Assess Students' Comprehension of Their Own Code
(Poster)
[PDF]
[Poster]
[DOI]
SIGCSE '24 — Joey Bevilacqua, Luca Chiodini, Igor Moreno Santos, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Teaching Programming with Graphics: Pitfalls and a Solution
[PDF]
[DOI]
SPLASH-E '23 — Luca Chiodini, Juha Sorva, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Expressions in Java: Essential, Prevalent, Neglected?
[PDF]
[DOI]
SPLASH-E '22 — Luca Chiodini, Igor Moreno Santos, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Wrong Answers for Wrong Reasons: The Risks of Ad Hoc Instruments
[PDF]
[DOI]
Koli Calling '21 — Luca Chiodini, Matthias Hauswirth
-
Conceptual Checks for Programming Teachers
[PDF]
[DOI]
EC-TEL '21 — Luca Chiodini, Matthias Hauswirth, Andrea Gallidabino
-
A Curated Inventory of Programming Language Misconceptions
[PDF]
[DOI]
ITiCSE '21 — Luca Chiodini, Igor Moreno Santos, Andrea Gallidabino, Anya Tafliovich, André L. Santos, Matthias Hauswirth
Current and past activities
- I have been part of the technical team behind the Italian and the International Informatics Olympiad in Teams.
- I organized six editions of ABC, an Olympiad-style online programming contest held each year in May.
- In 2017, I participated in the first Italian training program in cybersecurity for students. I placed second in a
local final challenge and competed with a team in the national final, held in Rome, ranking second.
- In 2014, I won a bronze medal at the Italian Olympiad in Informatics.
Technical blog posts
Resources
Over the years I've created and freely shared a number of resources (partially in Italian), which some have found useful: