Collaborative Research: Development of Concept Inventories for Computer Science

这个项目正在通过开发三个计算机科学入门科目的概念清单来改善学生在计算机科学方面的学习评估。概念清单仿照成功的力量概念清单开发，用于评估学生对牛顿物理学的学习，概念清单正在测试对关键计算机科学概念的理解，以便能够在不同大学的课程之间进行可靠的比较。伊利诺伊大学香槟分校、Rose-Hulman研究所和华盛顿大学之间的这种多机构合作伙伴关系通过向不同的学生群体和不同的项目目标提供机会，帮助确保拟议工具的有效性。通过标准化的评估工具，计算机科学教育界可以对不同教学方法的有效性进行有意义的比较，从而极大地促进计算机科学教育研究。概念量表旨在通过强制在正确答案和由常见学生错误概念构建的干扰因素之间进行选择，来测试学生对困难概念的理解。作为了解哪些话题比较难以及最常见的误解是什么的主要信息来源，学生们正通过内省、讨论、访谈和“有声思考”直接参与，以指导概念清单中问题的发展。然后，通过同行评议、定性和心理测量学分析对这些问题进行提炼和验证。一个由经验丰富的概念清单开发人员组成的咨询小组正在为项目进展提供建议，并每年对其进行评估。

This project is improving the assessment of student learning in computer science by developing three concept inventories for introductory computer science subjects. Modeled after the successful Force Concept Inventory that was developed to assess student learning of Newtonian physics, the concept inventories are testing understanding of key computer science concepts in a manner that enables reliable comparisons between courses at different universities. This multi-institution partnership among the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rose-Hulman Institute, and Washington University is helping to ensure the validity of the proposed instruments by providing access to diverse student populations and different program objectives. With a standardized assessment tool, the computer science education community can make meaningful comparisons of the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches, greatly facilitating computer science education research.Concept inventories are designed to test student comprehension of difficult concepts by forcing a choice between the correct answer and distractors constructed from common student misconceptions. As the primary source of information about which topics are difficult and about what the most common misconceptions are, students are being directly engaged through introspections, discussions, interviews, and "think alouds" to direct the development of questions for the concept inventories. These questions are then being refined and validated through peer review, qualitative, and psychometric analyses. An advisory panel, comprised of experienced concept inventory developers, is advising and annually assessing project progress.