Identifying important and difficult concepts in introductory computing courses using a delphi process

GoldmanKen,; GrossPaul,; HeerenCinda,; HermanGeoffrey,; KaczmarczykLisa,; LouiMichael, C; ZillesCraig,

doi:10.1145/1352322.1352226

Cited by 58 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This paper focuses on one particular skill related to propositional and Boolean logic -the ability to translate natural language (e.g., English) specifications to Boolean expressions -that was identified by experts in teaching discrete math and digital logic design classes as a topic that is both important and difficult for students to learn [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proof by incomplete enumeration and other logical misconceptions

Herman

Kaczmarczyk

Loui

et al. 2008

Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Computing Education Research

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The ability to reason with formal logic is a foundational skill for computer scientists and computer engineers that scaffolds the abilities to design, debug, and optimize. By interviewing students about their understanding of propositional logic and their ability to translate from English specifications to Boolean expressions, we characterized common misconceptions and novice problem-solving processes of students who had recently completed a digital logic design class. We present these results and discuss their implications for instruction and the development of pedagogical assessment tools known as concept inventories.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proof by incomplete enumeration and other logical misconceptions

Herman

Kaczmarczyk

Loui

et al. 2008

Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Computing Education Research

Self Cite

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“…In the field of computer science, concept inventories have been created for digital logic [16,17] using the Delphi process, algorithms and data structures [11], and introductory courses [13,14,19]. Although these CIs are a good start, the majority of computer science topics remain without concept inventories.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, the Delphi Process has been proposed as a rigorous method for developing concept inventories [13] that aims for consensus among a panel of fifteen to twenty subject-area experts. The process requires panelists to identify key concepts, propose assessment questions, and iterate though multiple rounds of refinement in which questions are scored across several metrics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging open source principles for flexible concept inventory development

Porter

Taylor

Webb

2014

Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation &Amp; Technology in Computer Science Education - ITiCSE '14

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Concept Inventory (CI) assessments, which target high-level learning goals, have proven highly valuable for higher education research. These assessments have helped to evaluate pedagogical practices among individual instructors, both within and across institutions, and have hence elevated the level of discourse on education within the community. The success of CIs in physics has inspired similar developments in computer science, with a few CIs now developed for computer science courses. However, the development of a CI typically follows a burdensome process, requiring a significant investment to produce a single CI that may be difficult to deploy due to institutional curricular differences. Furthermore, as our field continues to be shaped by technological advances, a path to faster, more modular CI development is critical. This paper proposes an alternative CI development model and continues the discussion within the community about the need for, and path to, concept inventories throughout the computer science curriculum. Specifically, we explore the implications of an open collaboration system for CI development that would mimic the principles common to open source software communities, which have regularly demonstrated their ability to produce high-quality results.

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“…In the field of computer science, concept inventories have been created for digital logic [12,13], algorithms and data structures [8], introductory courses [10,17], and discrete math [2]. However, most pedagogical literature on the subject of operating systems has focused on designing student projects [3,6,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a pre- and post-course concept inventory to gauge operating systems learning

Webb

Taylor

2014

Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

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Operating systems courses often present students with multiple approaches to solve a problem, often with differing trade-offs. While students are more than capable of memorizing the details of these competing approaches, they often struggle to recommend a specific approach and analyze its implications. In particular, we find that students exhibit difficultly in interpreting text-based scenario descriptions in a way that allows them to correctly choose between potential solutions when presented with a high-level, conceptual scenario.In this paper, we describe the development of a pre-and postcourse concept inventory, which we utilize to explore students' misconceptions of operating systems and their associated trade-offs. We compare the results of our assessment with in-class peer instruction questions and exam questions to characterize the areas in which students most commonly struggle with operating systems material.

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Identifying important and difficult concepts in introductory computing courses using a delphi process

Cited by 58 publications

References 6 publications

Proof by incomplete enumeration and other logical misconceptions

Proof by incomplete enumeration and other logical misconceptions

Leveraging open source principles for flexible concept inventory development

Developing a pre- and post-course concept inventory to gauge operating systems learning

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