| 1. |
- Boustedt, Jonas, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Students' perceptions of the differences between formal and informal learning
- 2011
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Ingår i: ICER '11 Proceedings of the seventh international workshop on Computing education research. - New York, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450308298 ; , s. 61-68
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research has shown that most learning in the workplace takes place outside of formal training and, given the swiftly changing nature of the field, computer science graduates more than most workers, need to be able to learn computing topics outside of organized classes.In this paper we discuss students' perceptions of the difference between formal and informal learning of computing topics, based on three datasets: essays collected from a technical writing course at a single university; the results of a brainstorming exercise conducted in the same course; and semi-structured interviews conducted at six institutions in three countries.The students report strengths and weaknesses in informal learning. On the one hand, they are motivated, can choose their level of learning, can be more flexible about how they learn, and often retain the material better. On the other hand, they perceive that they may miss important aspects of a topic, learn in an ad hoc way, and have difficulty assessing their learning.
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| 2. |
- Boustedt, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Threshold concepts in computer science : do they exist and are they useful?
- 2007
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Ingår i: SIGCSE Bulletin inroads. - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 0097-8418. ; 39:1, s. 504-508
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Yes, and Yes.We are currently undertaking an empirical investigation of “Threshold Concepts” in Computer Science, with input from both instructors and students. We have found good empirical evidence that at least two concepts—Object-oriented programming and pointers—are Threshold Concepts, and that there are potentially many more others.In this paper, we present results gathered using various experimental techniques, and discuss how Threshold Concepts can affect the learning process.
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| 3. |
- McCartney, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Can first–year students program yet? : a study revisited
- 2013
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Ingår i: ICER´13: Proceedings of the ninth International Conference on International Computing Education Research. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ; , s. 91-98, s. 91-98
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Threshold concepts can be used to both organize disciplinaryknowledge and explain why students have diculties at cer-tain points in the curriculum. Threshold concepts transforma student's view of the discipline; before being learned, theycan block a student's progress.In this paper, we propose that in computing, skills, inaddition to concepts, can sometimes be thresholds. Somestudents report nding skills more dicult than concepts.We discuss some computing skills that may be thresholdsand compare threshold skills and threshold concepts.
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| 4. |
- McCartney, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Folk pedagogy and the geek gene : geekiness quotient
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. - NY, USA : ACM Digital Library. - 9781450346986 ; , s. 405-410
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a survey of the CS-education community, we find a range of beliefs about the "geek gene" theory. We suggest an alternative term, the "geekiness quotient (GQ)". The GQ, grounded in Gardner's work on multiple intelligences, is a hypothetical measure of the student's current CS ability. The GQ supports a moderate view of the geek gene: that students arrive in our classrooms with a range of CS abilities, whether acquired through background or innate talent, and can improve their abilities through effort.
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| 5. |
- McCartney, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Liminal Spaces and Learning Computing
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Journal of Engineering Education. - Abingdon : Taylor & Francis. - 0304-3797 .- 1469-5898. ; 34:4, s. 383-391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- “Threshold concepts” are concepts that, among other things, transform the way a student looks at a discipline. Although the term “threshold” might suggest that the transformation occurs at a specific point in time, an “aha” moment, it seems more common (at least in computing) that a longer time period is required. This time period is referred to as the “liminal space.” In this paper, we summarise our findings concerning how computing students experience the liminal space and discuss how this might affect teaching. Most of our findings so far relate to software engineering. As similar liminal spaces likely occur in other engineering disciplines, these findings have relevance across engineering education.
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| 6. |
- McCartney, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Why computing students learn on their own : motivation for self-directed learning of computing
- 2016
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Ingår i: ACM Transactions on Computing Education. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 1946-6226 .- 1946-6226. ; 16:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we address the question of why computing students choose to learn computing topics on their own. A better understanding of why some students choose to learn on their own may help us to motivate other students to develop this important skill. In addition, it may help in curriculum design; if we need to leave some topics out of our expanding curriculum, a good choice might be those topics that students readily learn on their own.Based on a thematic analysis of 17 semistructured interviews, we found that computing students’ motivations for self-directed learning fall into four general themes: projects, social and peer interactions, joy of learning, and fear. Under these, we describe several more specific subthemes, illustrated in the words of the students.The project-related and social motivations are quite prominent. Although these motivations appear in theliterature, they received greater emphasis from our interviewees. Perhaps most characteristic of computingis the motivation to learn to complete some project, both projects done for fun and projects required for schoolor work.
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| 7. |
- Moström, Jan Erik, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Concrete examples of abstraction as manifested in students’ transformative experiences
- 2008
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Ingår i: ICER '08. - New York : ACM. - 9781605582160 ; , s. 125-136
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines transformational learning experiences of computing students as a way to better understand threshold concepts in computing. From empirical evidence we found that students often describe transformative experiences as learning situations in which they were led to use various kinds of abstraction, for example modularity, data abstraction, inheritance, polymorphism, reuse, design patterns, and complexity. Some students describe an abstract concept as coming first, and then needing to be made concrete though application; others describe transformations in which they learn the advantages of these abstract concepts from their experience of not using them.Abstraction is certainly of central importance in computer science. It appears, however, from our students’ descriptions of transformative experiences, that abstraction per se is not a threshold, but that particular concepts in which abstraction is paramount exhibit the characteristics of threshold concepts.
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| 8. |
- Sanders, Kate, et al.
(författare)
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Folk Pedagogy: Nobody Doesn't Like Active Learning
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER 17). - Tacoma, Washington, USA : ACM Publications. - 9781450349680 ; , s. 145-154
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a survey of the computing education community, many respondents suggested "active learning" as a teaching approach that would increase the likelihood of student success. In light of these responses, we analyze the way in which active learning is described in the computing-education literature. We find a strong consensus that active learning is good, but a lack of precision in how the term is used, often without definition, to describe instructional techniques, rather than student learning. In addition, active learning techniques are often discussed as if they were all equally effective. We suggest that making clear distinctions, both between teaching techniques and active learning and among the teaching techniques, would be fruitful for both instructors and researchers. Finally, we propose some dimensions along which distinctions among techniques could usefully be made.
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| 9. |
- Sanders, Kate, et al.
(författare)
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Student understanding of object-oriented programming as expressed in concept maps
- 2008
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Ingår i: SIGCSE Bulletin inroads. - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 0097-8418. ; 40:1, s. 332-336
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we present the results of an experiment in which we sought to elicit students’ understanding of objectoriented (OO) concepts using concept maps. Our analysis confirmed earlier research indicating that students do not have a firm grasp on the distinction between “class” and “instance.” Unlike earlier research, we found that our students generally connect classes with both data and behavior. Students rarely included any mention of the hardware/software context of programs, their users, or their real-world domains. Students do mention inheritance, but not encapsulation or abstraction. And the picture they draw of OO is a static one: we found nothing that could be construed as referring to interaction among objects in a program. We then discuss the implications for teaching introductory OO programming.
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| 10. |
- Sanders, Kate, et al.
(författare)
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Threshold concepts and threshold skills in computing
- 2012
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Ingår i: ICER '12. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Digital Library. - 9781450316040 ; , s. 23-30
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Threshold concepts can be used to both organize disciplinary knowledge and explain why students have difficulties at certain points in the curriculum. Threshold concepts transform a student's view of the discipline; before being learned, they can block a student's progress. In this paper, we propose that in computing, skills, in addition to concepts, can sometimes be thresholds. Some students report finding skills more difficult than concepts. We discuss some computing skills that may be thresholds and compare threshold skills and threshold concepts.
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