Identification of Threshold Concepts for Intermediate Computer Science Students

WIP Research Paper: The ability to identify threshold concepts within a discipline recognizes key components within a curriculum which, when learned, enables an individual to demonstrate as a member of that community. Within computer science, potential threshold concepts have sparked debates among researchers. According to the original definition by Meyer and Land, threshold concepts result in an individual being placed into a state of uncertainty or liminality and successful traversal of this liminal state results in a potentially irreversible transformation. When seeking to identify threshold concept, researchers often search for what concepts students feel are ‘troublesome’ or ‘difficult to learn’ since this state is often difficult to describe or understand when currently inside it or just past it. While threshold concepts have been identified for the beginning stages of programming, there is little to no work on the intermediate years of university computing education (years 2 & 3) and what potential threshold concepts exist during that time for computer science students. Our goal with this research is to help address this gap by answering the following research question: What concepts do intermediate students identify as being troublesome and/or ‘uncomfortable to learn’ within their computer science coursework?

I. Introduction&motivation

Threshold concepts have represented a topic of debate within Computing Education Research (CER) since they were proposed by Meyer and Land in 2003 [1]. Meyer and Land have defined threshold concepts to be concepts and/or learning experiences which invoke in a student an ontological and conceptional shift thereby resulting in an individual's transformation. While a student is working towards developing an understanding of a threshold concept, they are placed in a state of liminality akin to one's progression from childhood to adulthood which often makes it difficult for the individual to easily recall their prior conceptions. Learners will generally also feel a level of satisfaction or relief once they have passed through this liminal state (which requires significant effort from the learner) and while they are progressing through liminality students often are predisposed to mimicry and quasi-plagiarism. [2] As it is difficult to reflect on a liminal state, researchers have tended to search for those concepts students find to be ‘troublesome’ or ‘difficult to learn’, at times leading to a lack of consensus within the CER community regarding their existence. [3], [4]