An approach to discover students’ conceptions in online Computing Education: a case study of students’ understanding of virtual memory
Loading...
Official URL
Full text at PDC
Publication date
2024
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Citations
Exportar
Citation
Pamplona, S., Bravo-Agapito, J., & Seoane, I. (2024). An Approach to Discover Students’ Conceptions in Online Computing Education: a Case Study of Students’ Understanding of Virtual Memory. IEEE Access, 12, 111546-111564. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3442440
Abstract
This study presents a new approach for discovering conceptions among online computer science students. The research objectives were (1) to discover students’ conceptions of virtual memory, an important concept in operating systems, and (2) to provide a method for discovering students’ conceptions in the field of computer science. The study participants were students taking an undergraduate course on an operating system at an online university. Eleven students were enrolled in the course, and we selected all the participants who completed the course, seven students in total. We selected a qualitative case study as our methodology as we required a thorough and in-depth analysis of each student thought processes. Study data were obtained from questions on virtual memory that were included in two written evaluation tests at the beginning and end of the course. The questions assessed conceptual knowledge and meaningful learning of the concept of virtual memory. We discovered nine accepted conceptions and seven alternative conceptions related to virtual memory. We also inferred a mental model that could be the root cause of the discovered alternative conceptions. Our study has important implications for teaching and educational research in computer science. Regarding educational implications, this study makes recommendations for teaching virtual memory based on the results. Considering the implications for future research, our contributions are seven alternative conceptions of virtual memory that had not been previously identified, and a methodology for discovering conceptions that can be applied to other computing topics in both online and face-to-face environments.
Description
This work has been partially funded by Fundación HERGAR under the project FH2017-163 Improving conceptual understanding in online engineering courses.
Referencias bibliográficas:
• K. S. Taber, ''The nature of student conceptions in science,'' in Science Education, K. S. Taber and B. Akpan, Eds., Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense, 2017, pp. 119-131, doi: 10.1007/978-94-6300-749-8_9.
• I. O. Abimbola, ''The problem of terminology in the study of student conceptions in science,'' Sci. Educ., vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 175-184, Apr. 1988, doi: 10.1002/sce.3730720206.
• B. Du Boulay, ''Some difficulties of learning to program,'' J. Educ. Comput. Res., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 57-73, Feb. 1986, doi: 10.2190/3lfx-9rrf- 67t8-uvk9.
• A. Swidan, F. Hermans, and M. Smit, ''Programming misconceptions for school students,'' in Proc. ACM Conf. Int. Comput. Educ. Res. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Aug. 2018, pp. 151-159, doi: 10.1145/3230977.3230995.
• S. Pamplona, N. Medinilla, and P. Flores, ''A systematic map for improving teaching and learning in undergraduate operating systems courses,'' IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 60974-60992, 2018, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2871768.
• N. C. C. Brown and A. Altadmri, ''Novice Java programming mistakes,'' ACM Trans. Comput. Educ., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 1-21, Jun. 2017, doi: 10.1145/2994154.
• K. C. Webb and C. Taylor, ''Developing a pre- and post-course concept inventory to gauge operating systems learning,'' in Proc. 45th ACM Tech. Symp. Comput. Sci. Educ. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Mar. 2014, pp. 103-108, doi: 10.1145/2538862.2538886.
• G. Haldeman, M. Babes-Vroman, A. Tjang, and T. D. Nguyen, ''CSF: Formative feedback in autograding,'' ACM Trans. Comput. Educ., vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 1-30, Sep. 2021, doi: 10.1145/3445983.
• M. Mladenovic, I. Boljat, and Z. Zanko, ''Comparing loops misconceptions in block-based and text-based programming languages at the K-12 level,'' Educ. Inf. Technol., vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1483-1500, Jul. 2018, doi: 10.1007/s10639-017-9673-3.
• Y. Shi, K. Shah, W. Wang, S. Marwan, P. Penmetsa, and T. Price, ''Toward semi-automatic misconception discovery using code embeddings,'' in Proc. 11th Int. Learn. Analytics Knowl. Conf. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Apr. 2021, pp. 606-612, doi: 10.1145/3448139. 3448205.
• V. Svábenský, J. Vykopal, D. Tovarnák, and P. Celeda, ''Toolset for collecting shell commands and its application in hands-on cybersecurity training,'' in Proc. IEEE Frontiers Educ. Conf. (FIE), Oct. 2021, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637052.
• C. M. Lewis, M. J. Clancy, and J. Vahrenhold, ''Student knowledge and misconceptions,'' in The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research, S. A. Fincher and A. V. Robins, Eds., Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019, pp. 773-800, doi: 10.1017/ 9781108654555.028.
• Ü. Çakiroglu and S. Öngöz, ''The effectiveness of peer tutoring in remedying misconceptions of operating system concepts: A design-based approach,'' Educ. Inf. Technol., vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 1249-1269, May 2017, doi: 10.1007/s10639-016-9490-0.
• F. Strömbäck, L. Mannila, and M. Kamkar, ''Exploring students' understanding of concurrency-Aphenomenographic study,'' in Proc. 51st ACM Tech. Symp. Comput. Sci. Educ. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Feb. 2020, pp. 940-946, doi: 10.1145/3328778.3366856.
• S. Pamplona, I. Seoane, J. Bravo-Agapito, and N. Medinilla, ''Insights into students' conceptual understanding of operating systems: A four-year case study in online education,'' IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 55, no. 11, pp. 170-177, Nov. 2017, doi: 10.1109/MCOM.2017.1700362.
• S. Pamplona, N. Medinilla, and P. Flores, ''Exploring misconceptions of operating systems in an online course,'' in Proc. 13th Koli Calling Int. Conf. Comput. Educ. Res. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Nov. 2013, pp. 77-86, doi: 10.1145/2526968.2526977.
• F. Strömbäck, L. Mannila, M. Asplund, and M. Kamkar, ''A student's view of concurrency-A study of common mistakes in introductory courses on concurrency,'' in Proc. ACM Conf. Int. Comput. Educ. Res. New York, NY, USA: ACM, Jul. 2019, pp. 229-237, doi: 10.1145/3291279.3339415.
• Y. Ben-David Kolikant, ''Learning concurrency: Evolution of students' understanding of synchronization,'' Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud., vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 243-268, Feb. 2004, doi: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2003.10.005.
• W. Stallings, Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, 7th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall, 2011.
• D. M. Dhamdhere, Operating Systems A Concept-Based Approach. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
• P. J. Denning, ''The locality principle,'' Commun. ACM, vol. 48, no. 7, pp. 19-24, Jul. 2005, doi: 10.1145/1070838.1070856.
• B. J. Biddle and D. S. Anderson, ''Theory, methods, knowledge and research on teaching,'' in Handbook of Research on Teaching: A Project of the American Educational Research Association, M. C. Wittrock, Ed., New York, NY, USA: Macmillan, 1986, pp. 230-252.
• S. H. K. Kang, K. B. McDermott, and H. L. Roediger, ''Test format and corrective feedback modify the effect of testing on long-term retention,'' Eur. J. Cogn. Psychol., vol. 19, nos. 4-5, pp. 528-558, Jul. 2007, doi: 10.1080/09541440601056620.
• S. K. Moudgalya, M. Lachney, A. Yadav, and M. A. Kuyenga, ''What does the phrase 'diverse students' mean? An exploration of CS teachers' ideas of race, culture, and community in their classrooms,'' Comput. Sci. Educ., pp. 1-29, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1080/08993408.2024.2320004.
• A. Ezquerra, F. Agen, R. B. Toma, and I. Ezquerra-Romano, ''Using facial emotion recognition to research emotional phases in an inquiry-based science activity,'' Res. Sci. Technological Educ., pp. 1-24, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.1080/02635143.2023.2232995.
• L.W. Anderson, D. Krathwohl, and P. Airasian, A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Abridged Edition. Boston, MA, USA: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
• R. E. Mayer, ''Rote versus meaningful learning,'' Theory Into Pract., vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 226-232, Nov. 2002, doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4104_4.
• ATLAS.ti, Scientific Softw. Develop. GmbH, Berlin, Germany, 2020.
• J. Saldaña, The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Newbury Park, CA, USA: Sage, 2012.
• S. Vosniadou, ''Mental models of the day/night cycle,'' Cognit. Sci., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 123-183, Mar. 1994, doi: 10.1016/0364-0213(94) 90022-1.
• J. J. Clement, ''The role of explanatory models in teaching for conceptual change,'' in International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change, S. Vosniadou, Ed., New York, NY, USA: Routledge, 2008, pp. 417-452.
• B. Flyvbjerg, ''Five misunderstandings about case-study research,'' Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245, Apr. 2006, doi: 10.1177/1077800405284363.
• Y. S. Lincoln and E. G. Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA, USA: Sage, 1985.
• H. Pfundt and R. Duit, ''Bibliography, students' alternative frameworks and science education,'' Inst. Sci. Educ., Univ. Kiel, Kiel, Germany, Nov. 2009.
• M. Ben-Ari, ''Constructivism in computer science education,'' ACM SIGCSE Bull., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 257-261, Mar. 1998, doi: 10.1145/274790.274308.
• M. McCloskey, ''Intuitive physics,'' Sci. Amer., vol. 284, no. 4, pp. 122-130, 1983.
• R. Driver, E. Guesne, and A. Tiberghein, Children's Ideas in Science. London, U.K.: Open Univ. Press, 1985.
• J. H. Wandersee, J. J. Mintzes, and J. D. Novak, ''Research on alternative conceptions in science,'' in Handbook of Research of Science Teaching and Learning, D. L. Gabel, Ed., New York, NY, USA: Macmillan, 1994, pp. 177-210.