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Issues Regarding Threshold Concepts in Computer Science
Abstract
Threshold Concepts deserve discussion and reflection in Computer Science Education; they provide a conceptual framework intended to re-empower tertiary educators. At this stage, the idea of Threshold Concepts raises plenty of questions, promises renewed learner and teacher engagement, and suggests a means of focusing on the key aspects of a discipline that will allow a learner to, for example, "think more like a computer scientist." But what precisely are threshold concepts? Can we identify them? Can we agree on which concepts are threshold concepts and which are not? Can we validate them? If threshold concepts do exist, and can be identified and agreed upon, then how would they alter what we teach, how we teach, and how we assess? Do threshold concepts represent anything new or unexpected? The purpose of this paper is to set out issues for the Threshold Concepts model in Computer Science Education and encourage on-going discussion.
... Threshold concepts are seen as crucial topics or ideas recognised as particularly important in the understanding of a subject. Rountree and Rountree (2009) observed that the threshold concepts model has become fashionable, having gained popularity since 2003 when it was first put forward (Meyer & Land, 2003). The concept has now been explored in many different areas including Biology, Mathematics, Economics, Accounting and CS (Barradell, 2013). ...
... This transformative way of understanding the topic leads to deeper understanding of the subject that would not be possible otherwise. Rountree and Rountree (2009) note that certain aspects of the curriculum are pivotal and act as 'portals' to new understanding, mastery of which is seen as a rite of passage for all students of the discipline. Achieving an understanding of these threshold concepts can help students see connections with other aspects of the discipline that transcend individual components of the subject (Boustedt et al., 2007). ...
... It is useful to know that students tend to become stuck on a particular concept, but the deeper understanding of the student experience-how students get unstuck, and why some students get unstuck (or perhaps never get stuck at all) while others remain stuck-should provide ideas on how to help students to make progress toward understanding that concept. (Boustedt et al., 2007, p. 507) Similarly, exploring threshold concepts in CS, Rountree and Rountree (2009) argued that the most substantial work on identifying threshold concepts in CS has been on, 'examining the responses of students in Computer Science to questions about where they got "stuck" while studying' (p. 3). ...
The metaphors used by teachers to explain the nature of student learning and student difficulty can reveal a great deal about how teachers conceive the teaching and learning process. This is an important area of research as it can shed light on how they see their role in the learning process and how they should intervene to assist students in difficulty. Drawing on conceptual metaphorical theory, this paper explores how high school teachers described student learning by examining the metaphors they drew on to talk about student learning. The research found that the teachers drew primarily on metaphors associated with a journey when describing student learning. The paper argues that the employment of such metaphors can limit teachers’ responses to situations where students experience challenge and difficulty. It is further argued that teachers need to reflect on the use of such metaphors (and the accompanying essentialist language) and consider the affordances offered by employing alternative metaphors to describe student learning.
... " The main predictor for the transformative character of (TCs) is the again the " Use of Inquiry Features, " while the other main prediction is coming again from the " Use of Modelling Indicators, " as was also the case for the dependent variable " Learning Performance. " Our results indicate that students' engagement in models of simulation could enhance their conceptual understanding of the (TCs) and this is probably an answer to the question about the identification of threshold concepts and how would they alter what we teach, how we teach, and how we assess them (Rountree & Rountree, 2009). The (ADI) variable seems also crucial in students understanding of threshold concepts, since it is strongly correlated with the acquisition of threshold concepts (r = 0.925) while it also appears in the regression analysis for the dependent variables we discussed before. ...
Computational experiment approach considers models as the fundamental instructional units of Inquiry Based Science and Mathematics Education (IBSE) and STEM Education, where the model take the place of the " classical " experimental setup and simulation replaces the experiment. Argumentation in IBSE and STEM education is related to the engagement of students/learners in a process where they make claims and use models and data to support their conjectures and justify or disprove their ideas. Threshold Concepts (TCs) are of particular interest to IBSE and STEM education, representing a " transformed way of understanding, or interpreting or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress. " The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of IBSE teaching approach on University students': (a) argumentation; (b) involvement in the use of modelling indicators; and (c) acquisition of certain threshold concepts in Physics and Mathematics. 79 pre-service engineering school university students participated in this research and results indicate that the computational experiment can help students' acquisition of threshold concepts and improve their level of argumentation as well as the use of modelling indicators.
... Meyer and Land have proposed using threshold concepts as the fundamental way to organize the teaching-and-learning process (Eckerdal, 2006) for subjects, such as computer programming. Although there is much debate around the use of threshold concepts (Rountree, 2009) these concepts can form the foundation of the computer programming curriculum. Threshold concepts can be characterized as being (Meyer, 2003b): ...
Novice students' experience strong emotions while learning to program. This is especially true when they are learning a threshold concept, as the action of crossing a threshold means walking through a " liminal space ". The liminal space is a transitional period where students experience oscillating emotions while trying to master a threshold concept. These emotions are rarely discussed in the field of computing and rarely mentioned in the literature associated with teaching-and-learning of computer programming. This paper describes such emotions and the paper reveals that there is no lack of emotional reactions while learning a threshold concept, program dynamics. As emotions are significantly related to motivation and motivation is strongly related to the success of the novice student, it may be useful for educators to understand students' emotions so that they are not only communicators of information but also motivators. Furthermore, constructivist pedagogy may provide a nurturing environment, where students are able to express their emotions.
... It has been suggested that internalisation of these ideas alone makes the skilful practitioner and underpins the expert (Cousin, 2006; Meyer & Land, 2006). Considerable thought has gone into ways of identifying TCs (Davies, 2006; Rountree & Rountree, 2009;). A notable success of the theory to date has been as a tool for teachers to address the " stuffed curriculum " (Land, Cousin, Meyer, & Davies, 2005; Cousin, 2006). ...
In this article a thermodynamic view of learning is taken. Internalisation of a threshold concept, the so-called act of “passing through the portal”, is viewed as a phase change. It is postulated that threshold concepts are associated with learning that both involves a large entropy change and that has competing possible learning outcomes. Through analogy with enthalpy of matter, it is predicted that certain learning activities will aid students, especially in the case of reaching true understanding of threshold concepts, much as certain physical processes aid the formation of diamond in preference to graphite.
... The starting point in our project was the findings from New Zealand and overseas that first year undergraduate students, across disciplines, have great difficulty learning certain concepts and progressing in their tertiary studies (Buntting, 2006;Meyer, Land, & Baillie, 2010;Rountree & Rountree, 2009;Scott, Harlow, Peter, & Cowie, 2010). The project also built on overseas studies that have examined factors related to pedagogy and knowledge acquisition (i.e., the acquisition of TCs) in tertiary education as an alternative solution to the problem of troublesome learning (Baillie, Goodhew, & Skryabina, 2006;Cowart, 2010;Eckerdale, McCartney, Moström, Sanders, Thomas, & Zander, 2007;Meyer, Land, & Baillie, 2010). ...
International interest is growing in the hypothesis that a focus on teaching threshold concepts can engender transformation in the epistemological and ontological dimensions of learning. According to threshold concept theory (Meyer & Land, 2003) concepts that are troublesome to learn are also transformative when mastered: the acquisition of threshold concepts conduces to the change in the student’s understanding of a discipline, and what it means to be a disciplinary expert, engendering in the student deep knowledge and learning throughout the student’s life span. Our project explored how threshold concept-focused pedagogies and assessments can afford opportunities for student learning of hard-to-grasp concepts. The impact of a threshold concept-informed curriculum was examined through two cycles of collaborative action-research, in doctoral writing, leadership, a Bachelor of Arts foundation course and electronics engineering course. Results revealed that although the direct impact of changed teaching practice on students’ short-term learning could not always be uniquely identified, results from student surveys confirmed that their learning experience had been enhanced. Results also suggest that by focusing teaching on identified threshold concepts, lecturers can attend to what they consider the keys to deep learning and ways to best enable it. The explicit teaching of these integrative troublesome concepts offers students somewhere to hook their disciplinary understandings
as they continue to learn new concepts.
... hreshold. They were identified in the first place by working with students and observing where they reported difficulty, or had learning troubles exposed through assessment. Later each was evaluated against the five attributes of Meyer and Land (2003). Debate between EE educators and instances from the literature have added weight to our selection. Rountree and Rountree (2009) favour the search for " the ways in which practitioners in related disciplines solve similar problems" offered by Davies (2006) to identify TCs. This manuscript puts our findings up for debate, and presents some novel approaches we are using to bring some objectivity to the evaluation. ...
This manuscript reports the Threshold Concepts (TCs) identified in early circuits & electronics courses through our work to date. We suggest some novel methods used to quantify the identification. We identify some concepts that ought to have been mastered in high-school physics courses but that are often absent from student repetoires. This may be a confusing factor for us and a source of trouble for students.
... re identi ed in the rst place by working with students and observing where they reported dif culty, or had learning troubles exposed through assessment. Later each was evaluated against the ve attributes of Meyer & Land (2003). Debate between electrical engineering (EE) educators and instances from the literature have added weight to our selection. Rountree & Rountree (2009) favoured the search for " the ways in which practitioners in related disciplines solve similar problems " offered by Davies (2006) to identify TCs, and we will go even further than this. This manuscript puts our catalogue of postulated TCs up for debate, presents some novel approaches that we are using to identify TCs, and presents some ...
ABSTRACT: This manuscript reports the threshold concepts identi␣ed over a two-year study in early circuits and electronics courses. Some novel methods have been used to improve con␣dence in the identi␣cation process. We also identify some concepts, potentially threshold, that ought to have been mastered in high-school physics courses but that are often absent from student repertoires. Weak understanding of these underlying concepts may be a confusing factor for researchers in their search for threshold concepts as well as an additional source of trouble for students of electronics.
... The identification of Threshold Concepts in disciplines remains a matter of ongoing research.(Davies 2006, Atherton, Hadfield, and Meyers 2008, Rountree and Rountree 2009) This space of this manuscript does not permit reporting the extensive process carried out to identify and justify our identifications. Nevertheless, we have a high level of confidence in our identification of the TCs that are explicitly taught, based on their correlation with each of the 5 accepted attributes of TCs as identified by Meyer and Land (2003), and upon our subsequent observation of students at work in the course. ...
Electronics and circuit theory are acknowledged as troublesome subjects when first intro-duced to students. This leads to low student retention into later electronics courses, especially in universities that offer a common first year where students are free to change streams after the first year. We report on a detailed study of the application of Threshold Concept Theory to an introduc-tory electronics course. We identify some Threshold Concepts, explicit and tacit. We postulate that a high density of Threshold Concepts accounts for the reputation for troublesome learning in, and low retention following, these courses. We further suggest that the bimodal distribution of marks that is commonly observed in electronics teaching is a hallmark of a Thresold Concept. This may have significant impact on assessment.
... Similarly, despite our failure to convincingly account for the bimodal CS1 distribution, the underlying assumption still appears to be that the explanation must lie in some preexisting factors which divide the world into populations who can and can't learn to program. In the recently popular research on threshold concepts, for example, " pre-liminal variation " (variation which exists before the learning process begins) is regarded as the key to understanding why students may be effective or ineffective in the learning process (Meyer & Land, 2003; Rountree & Rountree, 2009). When considering the partial predictors which have been fairly consistently identified, such as mathematical ability, two important issues do not appear to have received much attention. ...
Compared to other subjects the typical introductory programming (CS1) course has higher than usual rates of both failing and high grades, creating a characteristic bimodal grade distribution. In this paper I explore two possible explanations. The conventional explanation has been that learners naturally fall into populations of programmers and non-programmers. A review of decades of research, however, finds little or no evidence to support this account. I propose an alternative explanation, the learning edge momentum (LEM) effect. This hypothesis is introduced by way of a simulated model of grade distributions, then grounded in the psychological and educational literature. LEM operates such that success in acquiring one concept makes learning other closely linked concepts easier (whereas failure makes it harder). This interaction between the way that people learn and the tightly integrated nature of the concepts comprising a programming language creates an inherent structural bias in CS1 which drives students towards extreme outcomes.
... Zendler and Spannagel (2008) mapped the concepts around which the curriculum should be organized, Ben-Ari (2001) explored mental models of the computer, and Simon et al. (2006) explored students' pre-conceptions . A recent addition is research on threshold concepts, namely concepts one is required to master in order to become a practitioner in the CS community (Rountree and Rountree 2009). The socio-cultural approach, expressed through the metaphor of enculturation emphasizes that becoming a CS professional requires, in addition to theoretical, conceptual knowledge, the development of a unique viewpoint, that is, valuing the processes professionals carry out during their work and having a propensity to use them (Schoenfeld 1992). ...
This study demonstrates the power of the cultural encounter metaphor in explaining learning and teaching difficulties, using
as an example computer science education (CSE). CSE is envisioned as an encounter between veterans of two computer-oriented
cultures, that of the teachers and that of the students. Forty questionnaires administered to CS teachers, as well as in-depth
interviews with four leading CS teachers, revealed those teachers perceived their students as having a different perspective
on the domain, on what constitutes a beneficial approach to problem-solving and on the nature of satisfactory solutions. In
fact, the teachers portrayed their teaching as a continual battle in which their success is limited. Yet, their instruction
was characterized as a composite of enforcement and compromise, with few and isolated attempts at building on students’ cultural
capital. The cultural encounter metaphor, while still viewing students as novices to the professional CS culture represented
by their teachers, emphasizes that good teaching requires building upon students’ cultural capital to create zones of fertile
cultural encounter.
KeywordsCultural encounter–Teaching difficulties–Computer science education–Students’ cultural capital
... Object-oriented programming has been recognized as a Threshold Concept in CS education [31]. Threshold Concepts is a framework which has recently received more attention in CS, and used to refer to parts of the curriculum that students must understand in order to make progress in the field [176]. These concepts are potentially troublesome for students [31]. ...
Artificial Intelligence and its sub-disciplines are becoming increasingly relevant in numerous areas of academia as well as industry and can now be considered a core area of Computer Science [ 84 ]. The Higher Education sector are offering more courses in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence than ever before. However, there is a lack of research pertaining to best practices for teaching in this complex domain that heavily relies on both computing and mathematical knowledge. We conducted a literature review and qualitative study with students and Higher Education lecturers from a range of educational institutions, with an aim to determine what might constitute best practices in this area in Higher Education. We hypothesised that confidence, mathematics anxiety, and differences in student educational background were key factors here. We then investigated the issues surrounding these and whether they inhibit the acquisition of knowledge and skills pertaining to the theoretical basis of artificial intelligence and machine learning. This article shares the insights from both students and lecturers with experience in the field of AI and machine learning education, with the aim to inform prospective pedagogies and studies within this domain and move toward a framework for best practice in teaching and learning of these topics.
Threshold concepts have been characterised in the literature as jewels in the curriculum as they can inform teaching and learning practices. Therefore, identifying and addressing threshold concepts in any discipline is critical. The aim of the current study is to explore the existence of threshold concepts in computer programming and specifically with regard to the area of functions. Based on our previous works in which we identified 11 potential threshold concepts in functions by employing the Delphi method and seven misconceptions that students hold in this area of programming, the current study further explores computing teachers' experiences with students' engagement with 4 of the 11 concepts using an interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews. The analysis revealed that from these concepts, we could argue that parameters, parameter passing and return values likely form a threshold conception and procedural decomposition is a procedural threshold (threshold skill). The study presents our framework that lead us to the identification of these thresholds in computer programming, presents the computing teachers experiences with these concepts and concludes with the implication of these results on students' learning and teaching practices in computer programming.
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic
• Threshold concepts are concepts that are particularly troublesome for students basically because of their transformative and integrative characteristics.
• Students struggle to understand these concepts and therefore learning becomes a barrier.
• In computer programming, research suggests that concepts like object‐oriented programming, recursion, pointers are examples of threshold concepts, but more research is needed to identify more threshold concepts and how students experience these concepts.
What this paper adds
• The paper explores teachers' experiences teaching the concepts: parameters, parameter passing, return values and procedural decomposition and identifies common students' learning difficulties with these concepts.
• The paper investigates students' transformations and integration of knowledge once they have understood these concepts through the teachers' reflective practice.
• The paper suggests that parameters, parameter passing and return values form a threshold conception in programming and that procedural decomposition is a procedural threshold.
Implications for practice and/or policy
• The paper highlights many problematic and troublesome areas in functions in which students experience many difficulties. This specific output can be used by teachers who would like to organise their lessons around difficult points in functions and prepare appropriate materials that will help students overcome the corresponding obstacles.
• The paper identifies epistemological and ontological transformations that students experience once they overcome the conceptual difficulties and finally grasp the threshold concepts. This outcome has a significant impact on the teaching of computer programming. Teachers should take into consideration the powerful conceptual relationships these concepts form and the transformations that students' exhibit by creating learning environments that will bring about these transformations and assist students in their attempt to understand and identify themselves in the computer classroom.
Background and Context
Students learning the C programming language struggle to debug, and to understand the runtime behaviour of, their programs.
Objective
We examine a tool that combines several novice-focused error detection, program visualization, and debugging techniques, to investigate which features students use in real study sessions, which features they consider effective, and whether or not the tool can effectively assist students with debugging tasks.
Method
This study employed a mixed-methods approach. First, we record participants’ interactions with the tool during their regular coursework by instrumenting the tool itself. Second, we collected interaction recordings and screen capture recordings of students using the tool to perform set debugging tasks. Finally we surveyed students who participated in the second part of the study, to investigate their perceptions of the tool.
Findings
Students used the tool’s runtime error detection and execution trace reviewing features to find and investigate bugs during their coursework. In set debugging tasks, even students with no previous experience of the tool were able to use it effectively with little to no assistance. Students were positive about the tool, but suggested a number of user interface improvements.
Implications
Novice-focused program visualization and debugging tools for the C programming language can assist students with complicated debugging tasks encountered during their regular coursework. Simple, user-friendly interfaces are important in such tools, and may motivate their use (in preference to debugging tools designed for developers).
Programming skills are an increasingly desirable asset across disciplines; however, learning to program continues to be difficult for many students. To improve pedagogy, we need to better understand the concepts that students find difficult and which have the biggest impact on their learning. Threshold-concept theory provides a potential lens on student learning, focusing on concepts that are troublesome and transformative. However, there is still a lack of consensus as to what the most relevant threshold concepts in programming are. The challenges involved are related to concept granularity and to evidencing some of the properties expected of threshold concepts. In this article, we report on a qualitative study aiming to address some of these concerns. The study involved focus groups with undergraduate students of different-year groups as well as professional software developers so as to gain insights into how perspectives on concepts change over time. Four concepts emerged from the data, where the majority of participants agreed on their troublesome nature—including abstract classes and data structures. Some of these concepts are considered transformative, too, but the evidence base is weaker. However, even though these concepts may not be considered transformative in the “big” sense of threshold concept theory, we argue the “soft” transformative effect of such concepts means they can provide important guidance for pedagogy and the design of programming courses. Further analysis of the data identified additional concepts that may hinder rather than help the learning of these threshold concepts, which we have called “accidental complexities.” We conclude the article with a critique of the use of threshold concepts as a lens for studying students’ learning of programming.
With the introduction of the new computing curriculum in England, teachers are facing many challenges, among them the teaching of computer programming. Literature suggests that the conceptual understanding of this subject contributes to its difficulty and that threshold concepts, as a source of troublesome knowledge, have a significant role in this. This paper explores computing teachers' perspectives on the Threshold Concept framework and suggests potential threshold concepts in the area of Functions and, more generally, in Procedural Abstraction. A study was conducted, using the Delphi method, including both computing teachers with experience teaching at upper secondary/high school and computing teachers with experience practicing programming in a professional environment for more than 7 years. The results indicate that the majority of the participants support that the Threshold Concept framework can explain students' difficulties in programming and agreed on 11 potential threshold concepts in the area of Functions and Procedural Abstraction. The participants focused more on the troublesome characteristic of threshold concepts and less on the transformative and integrative. Most of the participants also specified that they would change the way they teach a concept if they knew that this is a threshold one. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and how these will shape our future research.
In this paper, we survey the work that has been done in threshold concepts in computing since they were first discussed in 2005: concepts that have been identified, methodologies used, and issues discussed. Based on this survey, we then identify some promising unexplored areas for future work.
Threshold concepts have been referred to as “jewels in the curriculum”: concepts that are key to competency in a discipline but not taught explicitly. In biology,researchers have proposed the idea of threshold concepts that include such topics as variation,randomness,uncertainty,and scale. In this essay,we explore how the notion of threshold concepts can be used alongside other frameworks meant to guide instructional and curricular decisions,and we examine the proposed threshold concept of variation and how it might influence students’ understanding of core concepts in biology focused on genetics and evolution. Using dimensions of scientific inquiry,we outline a schema that may allow students to experience and apply the idea of variation in such a way that it transforms their future understanding and learning of genetics and evolution. We encourage others to consider the idea of threshold concepts alongside the Vision and Change core concepts to provide a lens for targeted instruction and as an integrative bridge between concepts and competencies.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a brief exposure to the development of the threshold concepts framework (TCF), the intention being to illuminate for interested readers a broader landscape of research activity than that perhaps conveyed by the individual contributions to this special edition.
Design/methodology/approach
– There is first an account of how the notion of a “threshold concept” was presented by Meyer and Land in their seminal 2003 paper, and a clarification of some terminology used by them at that time to describe the (confusing for some) “characteristics” of such a concept. A discursive account, with examples, follows on how analyses for, and of, threshold concepts might proceed, and how findings might provoke a reappraisal of associated learning and teaching practices. Towards this end a contemporary pedagogical perspective is introduced based on the construct of integrated threshold concept knowledge (ITCK) as proposed by Meyer and Timmermans (2016). Reference to a detailed case study illustrates the practical dynamics of generating ITCK; specifically in the context of a third-year engineering course embedding the threshold of “critical flow”. Activities and processes, transferable to other discipline contexts, are described that yield particular elements of ITCK (different constituent “types of knowledge”) in relation, in this case, to “critical flow”. A final consideration is the “representation” of “critical flow” for pedagogical purposes in the form of a metacognitive activity for learning and formative assessment purposes that is, again, adaptable to other discipline contexts.
Findings
– There are no specific findings in this paper as its purpose is to provide a condensed review of the development of the TCF.
Originality/value
– This value of this paper is that it provides a contemporary expert exposure to the development of the TCF by the originator of the notion of a threshold concept.
The idea of transformative and troublesome ‘threshold concepts’ has been popular and influential in higher education. This article reports how teachers with different disciplinary affiliations responded to the ‘concept of thresholds’ in the course of a cross-disciplinary research project. It describes how the idea was territorialised and enacted through established materialising discourses in different disciplinary settings and enacted through pedagogical practice, technology and assessment. This has implications for professional development and pedagogical practice and endeavours to create ‘self-organising classrooms’ along Deleuzian lines.
This article describes a study that was intended to reduce the bimodal grade distribution of students of the Management Information Systems department. Unlike the normal distribution that represents many natural groups, a bimodal distribution represents two, sometimes unique, sub-populations within one group. There are many studies of the causes of this phenomenon; however, this study is mainly concerned with finding ways to reduce it. The significance of a bimodal distribution lies in its ability to predict future failures, especially in the lower sub-population. Dealing with these future failures is important due to the sharp reduction in the number of enrolled students and the increase in the dropout rate that has stemmed from various reasons. This eight-year study focused on strengthening students' learning habits, which played a significant role in increasing students' overall motivation and levels of self-accountability and produced a more homogeneous group, as represented by the normal grade distribution.
The Theory of Threshold Concepts (TCs), first articulated by Land and Meyer in 2003, provides educators in many disciplines with a tool to identify those special ideas that both define the characteristic ways of thinking of expert practitioners, and cause the greatest learning difficulties for students. Concept inventories are popular assessment tools, epitomized by the widely-accepted Force Concept Inventory of Hestenes et al., introduced circa 1992. It is a natural marriage to bring these two thrusts together to produce “Threshold-Concept Inventories.” We report ongoing work to develop and verify such a TC-inspired inventory assessment tool in the field of electronics and simple circuit theory. We identify the difficulty in the development of questions targeted at assessing understanding of single threshold concepts and present results in support of a strategy to deal with this.
Java Programming Laboratory (JPL) is a cloud based, integrated learning environment used for teaching introductory Java programming at Griffith University, Australia. JPL incorporates a number of features found in other successful programming learning environments and builds upon them with a range of innovative features. Learning to program is a threshold concept area for ICT students and success in this endeavour is paramount for student progression and retention. JPL provides a database that tracks individual students' successes and progression through scaffolded programming exercises and assessment items and gives students immediate feedback on their use of programming language syntax and correctness of problem solutions. A data querying and visualisation facility allows analysis of the database to provide real-time performance indicators from the overall course / problem level down to the individual student / specific problem level. Programming instructors and curriculum designers will find that this facility allows a responsive approach to student engagement, assistance and progression; as well as course problem tuning in a just-in-time manner.
We propose an expanded definition of Threshold Concepts (TCs) that requires the successful acquisition and internalisation not only of knowledge, but also its practical elaboration in the domains of applied strategies and mental models. This richer definition allows us to clarify the relationship between TCs and Fundamental Ideas, and to account for both the important and the problematic characteristics of TCs in terms of the Knowledge/Strategies/Mental Models Framework defined in previous work.
This thesis formulates and evaluates a pedagogical technique whose goal is to help beginners learn the basics of computer programming. The technique, visual program simulation (VPS), involves the learner in interactive simulations in which the learner takes on the role of the computer as the executor of a program. The student uses a given visualization of a so-called notional machine, an abstract computer, to illustrate what happens in memory as the computer processes the program. The purpose of these simulations is to help the beginner learn to reason about program execution, a skill whose development has been identified as a major challenge in introductory programming education. VPS promotes effective learning by seeking to cognitively engage the learner with a visualization. It can be made practical through visualization software. VPS software may also automatically assess students' simulations and provide personal feedback, which is a valuable asset especially in the large classes that are typical of introductory courses.
The thesis contributes to VPS in four ways. First, it formulates the concept of visual program simulation and outlines its underpinnings in terms of learning theory. Second, it presents a new software prototype that facilitates the use of VPS in practice. Third, it reports on a preliminary empirical evaluation of VPS and the software in the context of an introductory programming course. Fourth, it makes recommendations on the use of VPS in teaching and the further development of VPS tools, which arise from the empirical work.
The findings from a mixed-methods evaluation of VPS suggest that it is a promising pedagogical approach that helps many students learn programming. At the same time, the evaluation highlights certain important weaknesses. The purpose of VPS is not obvious to many students. Care must be taken to ensure that students develop a rich understanding of what VPS is and what they stand to gain from it. For best results, it is recommended that VPS be tightly integrated into the teaching and learning environment. The results from a controlled experiment further indicate that the short-term learning benefits of a VPS assignment are heavily dependent on which interactions the assignment demands from students. This implies that extreme care must be taken in the design of VPS systems and specific assignments so that required user interactions are aligned with intended learning goals.
On a more general level, the thesis serves as an example of educational tool development that is grounded in learning theory and informed by empirical evaluations. A fairly broad review of the literature on learning and teaching introductory programming is also contributed.
Threshold concepts were introduced nearly 10 years ago by Ray Land and Jan Meyer. This work has spawned four international conferences and hundreds of papers. Although the idea has clearly gained traction in higher education, this sub-field does not yet have a fully fledged research methodology or a strong critical discourse about meth-odology. This paper seeks to begin such a dialogue by analysing three projects carried out by the authors, each focused broadly on identifying and understanding threshold concepts in engineering. Each of the projects used interviews with students and academics, but differed in six main ways that seem to make a difference to the research outcomes. This paper considers the gaps in the research and why they matter, briefly outlines the methods used in each of the three case study projects, and then discusses differences in project goals, researchers' backgrounds, curricular context, participants' experiences, negotiated or independent knowledge and degree of comprehensiveness sought in the studies. The implications of these six differences are explored. The authors argue that research in this sub-field of higher education pedagogical research needs to be clearer and more explicit about the methods that are used They conclude that the field would benefit from bringing together researchers who have been developing complementary research methods to compare and contrast these approaches and to develop more rigorous protocols for research on threshold concepts.
This paper presents an approach to teaching a course dealing with MDE
topics where the focus is on acquiring practical skills. The main goal was to enable
the students to apply the knowlegde from this course in practice after graduation.
This was achieved by directing practical lectures not only to exercising different
MDE techniques, but also to their use in a particular field of software development
– developing business applications.
There have been many studies showing that learning to program is really challenging for most students,while a lot of works have been done to improve the effective and efficiency of programming teaching and learning. This paper first reviewed the literature on studies of threshold concepts of computer science, Ontology construction of programming domain, and construction of university course Ontology, then based on these research outcomes, provided a programming course ontology based on threshold concepts of computer science. This research will provide a foundation for the development of Ontology based personalized learning system.
Abstract A threshold concept is defined by Meyer and Land (2003) as possessing the following qualities: transformative, integrative, bounded, and probably irreversible. This concept provides a promising way of interpreting the learning demand presented by subjects and Meyer and Land have begun to apply the idea in analysing learning economics. It redefines the familiar idea of a ‘powerful concept’ in a social constructivist context, providing a penetrating tool for the analysis of the development,of disciplinespecific learning. This paper examines some difficulties to be faced in the operationalisation of the idea of ‘threshold concepts’ in economics and, in so doing, begins to identify ways in which these problems might be overcome. Paper presented at the EARLI Conference August 26 – 30,2003, Padova Address for correspondence Professor Peter Davies Institute for Education Policy Research Staffordshire University Leek Road Stoke-on-Trent
This article outlines the recently developed idea of ‘Threshold Concepts’ and explains how this idea may be used to describe the progress of learning in economics. The authors examine the relationship between threshold concepts, key concepts and conceptual change and suggest that a distinction between basic, discipline and procedural concepts may be useful in determining a framework for the identification of threshold concepts. The current understanding of threshold concepts is extended by indicating that these might best be seen as a web of concepts which link thinking and practice in a discipline. A range of evidence is presented to illustrate the existence and implications of threshold concepts in economics.
This paper explores the notion of a 'threshold concept' and discusses its possible implications for higher education research and practice. Using the case of introductory accounting as an illustration, it is argued that the idea of a threshold concept provides an emerging theoretical
framework for a 're-view' of educational research and practice. It is argued that this re-view both demands and supports several forms of dialogue about educational research and practice: within the disciplines (between lecturers and between lecturers and students) and between lecturers and
educational developers. Finally, it is suggested that, rather than representing a research field in its own right, the threshold concepts framework may act as a catalyst, drawing together a variety of fields of research in a productive educative framework.
Yes, and Yes.We are currently undertaking an pirical investigation of "Threshold Concepts" in Computer Science, with input from both instructors and students. We have found good pirical 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.
This paper shows that so-called ‘threshold concepts’ have been defined in a way that makes it impossible, even in principle, to empirically isolate them. It continues by proposing an alternative theoretical framework, and argues: (1) that concepts are not reducible to abilities; (2) that acquisition of a given concept can be necessary, but not sufficient, for the possession of an ability; and (3) that being ‘threshold’ is an extrinsic property, such that what is threshold for one person is not for another. It closes by outlining two resultant problems for related empirical research. First, how is it possible to test for concepts, rather than abilities? Second, how can we tell if there is more than one possible conceptual route to the same ability?
This paper is part of an ongoing series of projects in which we are investigating "threshold concepts": concepts that, among other things, transforms the way a student looks as the discipline and are often troublesome to learn. The word "threshold" might imply that students cross the threshold in a single "aha"moment, but often they seem to take longer. Meyer and Land introduce the term "liminal space" for the transitional period between beginning to learn a concept and fully mastering it. Based on in-depth interviews with graduating seniors, we found that the liminal space can provide a useful metaphor for the concept learning process. In addition to observing the standard features of liminal spaces, we have identified some that may be specific to computing, specifically those relating to levels of abstraction.
Computer programming learning/teaching has been an active research area in computer science and engineering. The difficulty level of the teaching/learning process that novices in computer programming report is three-fold, lack of problem solving strategies, misconceptions of code syntax and semantics, and inability to develop an adequate mental model of the machine. This paper examines major difficulties encountered by students taking introductory-level programming courses and it proposes a computer model that sets thresholds for defining basic programming concepts. The study's initial findings suggest that the adoption of the model succeeded significantly in improving students' academic achievement and perception of computer programming
Traditional approaches to programming education, as exemplified by the typical CS1/CS2 course sequence, have not taken advantage of the long record of psychological and experimental studies on the development of programming skills. These studies indicate a need for a new curricular strategy for developing programming skills and indicate that a cognitive approach would be a promising starting point. This paper first reviews the literature on studies of programming skills, cognition and learning, then within that context reports on a new formal structure, called an anchor graph, that supports curricular design and facilitates the setting of measurable milestones.
This paper describes Threshold Concepts, a theory of learning that distinguishes core concepts whose characteristics can make them troublesome in learning. With an eye to applying this theory in computer science, we consider this notion in the context of related topics in computer science education.
This paper describes Threshold Concepts, a theory of learning that distinguishes core concepts whose characteristics can make them troublesome in learning. With an eye to applying this theory in computer science, we consider this notion in the context of related topics in computer science education.
Yes, and Yes.We are currently undertaking an pirical investigation of "Threshold Concepts" in Computer Science, with input from both instructors and students. We have found good pirical 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.
This paper argues that learning outcomes need to be reclaimed from their current use as devices for monitoring and audit, and returned to their proper use in aiding good teaching and learning. We require a broader, flexible and more realistic understanding of learning outcomes, better suited to the realities of the classroom and of practical use to those teachers who wish to respond to the enthusiasm of their students. To this end, a new model is produced that starts from the idea of an articulated curriculum, and embraces both intended and emergent learning outcomes. The model employs the distinction between predicted and unpredicted learning outcomes, together with the distinction between those that are desirable and those that are undesirable. The resulting account is intended to aid understanding of the nature and proper use of learning outcomes in teaching and learning.