Sue Sentance

Susan Sentance is a British computer scientist, educator and director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation Computing Education Research Centre at the University of Cambridge.^{[4][5][1][6][7]} Her research investigates a wide range of issues computer science education, teacher education and the professional development of those teaching computing.^[8][2] In 2020 Sentance was awarded a Suffrage Science award for her work on computing education.^[9][10]

Sue Sentance
Born	Susan Sentance
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh (MSc, PhD)
Awards	BCS Lovelace Medal (2024) Suffrage Science award (2020)
Scientific career
Fields	Computer science education[1]
Institutions	Raspberry Pi Foundation University of Cambridge National Centre for Computing Education King's College London Anglia Ruskin University[2]
Thesis	Recognising and responding to English article usage errors : an ICALL based approach (1993)
Doctoral advisor	Elisabet Engdahl Helen Pain[3]
Website	suesentance.net

Early life and education

Sentance studied artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology (IT) at the University of Edinburgh^[10] where she was awarded a Master of Science degree in 1989^[11] followed by a PhD in 1993 investigating intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL) supervised by Helen Pain and Elisabet Engdahl.^[3]

Career and research

In 2014 Sentance joined King's College London as a lecturer in computing education. Sentance served on the Royal Society computing education advisory group in 2016, with whom she investigated computer science education in the United Kingdom.^[12] Sentance was involved with the evaluation of .NET Gadgeteer and the Micro Bit.^[13][14]

Sentance joined the Raspberry Pi Foundation in 2018 as Chief Learning Officer where she oversees a gender disparity in computing program that seeks to improve the representation of girls in computer science classes. She has served on the board of Computing at School (CAS).^[15][16] Her research has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Microsoft.^[17] She collaborates with the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE)^[18] and joined the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge in 2021.^[4]

With Erik Barendsen and Carsten Schulte, she edited the book Computer Science Education: Perspectives on Teaching and Learning in School.^[19]

Awards and honours

• 2017: British Educational Research Association (BERA) public engagement and impact award^[20]
• 2020: Suffrage Science award for her work on computing education.^[21][9][10]
• 2024: BCS Lovelace Medal for her exceptional contributions and research in computing education.^[22]