Revisiting the Replication Study Design Used in Computing Education Research

TL;DR

This study examines the current state of replication research in Computing Education Research, finding slight growth but persistent challenges in publishing and community adoption despite increased discourse on open science.

Contribution

It provides an updated analysis of replication study prevalence and perceptions in CER since 2019, highlighting ongoing barriers and opportunities for promoting replication.

Findings

Number of replication studies increased slightly since 2019

More replication studies are published in journals than before

Researchers face significant challenges in publishing replication studies

Abstract

Replication studies play an important role in Computing Education Research (CER) by supporting the development of consistent and reliable scientific knowledge. However, prior research indicates that the CER community tends to prioritise novel contributions over replication. A 2019 SLR identified only 54 replication studies among 2,269 papers published between 2009 and 2018 across five major CER venues. This study aims to examine how the landscape of replication research in CER has evolved since 2019. Specifically, we investigate whether the prevalence of replication studies has increased and explore current perceptions and experiences of CER researchers regarding replication. We replicated two prior studies. First, we conducted an updated SLR to identify replication studies published between 2019 and 2025 in the same five CER venues. Second, we replicated a survey of Computing Education researchers to better understand their perceptions, experiences, and challenges related to conducting and publishing replication studies. Our SLR identified 63 replication studies among 2,516 published papers. While the proportion of replication studies has increased slightly, overall growth remains limited. We observed a shift toward more published replication studies in journals and an increase in authors replicating their own prior work. Survey results indicate that although many researchers engage in replication within their teaching and research practice, they encounter significant challenges when attempting to publish replication studies. Despite increased discourse around open science and research rigour, the adoption of replication studies in CER has not substantially grown. Our findings offer opportunities for future research to promote replication and to explore how the CER community can encourage researchers to publish replication studies.