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Our study is focused on the perceived professional efficacy of informatics in-service teachers with the experience of using micro-controller BBC micro:bit. In Slovakia, teaching using hardware is not typical. In addition, many teachers do not teach programming. BBC micro:bit is designed to be a tool for computer science (CS) teachers that should make a significant contribution to the innovation of CS teaching and enable CS teachers to implement CS lessons. The following research questions were asked. Q1: Is there a difference in the perceived efficacy to use teaching strategies based on experience with the micro:bit? Q2: Is there a relationship between the perceived efficacy of using teaching strategies and experience using the micro:bit? The research sample comprised N = 388 CS teachers employed in Slovak schools from the available selection. The research sample included CS teachers who participated in the project called ENTER. All participants have a grant, weekly online practices, supporting materials, and also consultant for implementation of a new teaching strategy. This study's findings indicate that the use of a microcontroller such as the micro:bit has a positive impact on self-efficacy for instructional strategies, but not for classroom management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of effort informatics and programming are part of the high school curriculum in Slovakia. The demand and popularity of IT impacts the education and continuously conquers space. Nowadays informatics is present from primary schools in the examined region. Although the students are more exposed to IT compared to previous generations learning programming offers numerous challenges for the beginners. Our goal is to streamline and deepen the learning process by evaluating the learning habits and observe the usage of a newly implemented platform. To improve the understanding of the currently prioritised learning styles we combined the advantages of survey with more direct interview methods. Based on the multilateral data collected from students' and teachers' perspective we provide methodological recommendations on improving the programming education to facilitate deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]