Setting the Scope of Concept Inventories for Introductory Computing Subjects

Authors:
Ken Goldman;Paul Gross;Cinda Heeren;Geoffrey L. Herman;Lisa Kaczmarczyk;Michael C. Loui;Craig Zilles
Affiliations:
Washington University in St. Louis;Washington University in St. Louis;University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign;University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign;University of California--San Diego;University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign;University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign
Venue:
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
Year:
2010

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Abstract

A concept inventory is a standardized assessment tool intended to evaluate a student’s understanding of the core concepts of a topic. In order to create a concept inventory it is necessary to accurately identify these core concepts. 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 mathematics, programming fundamentals, and logic design. The topic rankings can not only be used to guide the coverage of concept inventories, but can also be used by instructors to identify what topics merit special attention.