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

Authors:
Ken Goldman;Paul Gross;Cinda Heeren;Geoffrey Herman;Lisa Kaczmarczyk;Michael C. Loui;Craig Zilles
Affiliations:
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, IL, USA;Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, IL, USA;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA;University of California - San Diego, La Jolla, IL, USA;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Year:
2008

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Abstract

A Delphi process is a structured multi-step process that uses a group of experts to achieve a consensus opinion. We present the results of three Delphi processes to identify topics that are important and difficult in each of three introductory computing subjects: discrete math, programming fundamentals, and logic design. The topic rankings can be used to guide both the coverage of standardized tests of student learning (i.e., concept inventories) and can be used by instructors to identify what topics merit emphasis.