A basic recursion concept inventory. Issue 2 (3rd April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hamouda, Sally; Edwards, Stephen H.; Elmongui, Hicham G.; Ernst, Jeremy V.; Shaffer, Clifford A.
• Is Part Of: Computer science education. Volume 27:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 148
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03
• Subjects: Recursion -- concept inventory -- misconceptions; Computer science -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 004
• DOI: 10.1080/08993408.2017.1414728
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0899-3408

Abstract

Abstract : Recursion is both an important and a difficult topic for introductory Computer Science students. Students often develop misconceptions about the topic that need to be diagnosed and corrected. In this paper, we report on our initial attempts to develop a concept inventory that measures student misconceptions on basic recursion topics. We present a collection of misconceptions and difficulties encountered by students when learning introductory recursion as presented in a typical CS2 course. Based on this collection, a draft concept inventory in the form of a series of questions was developed and evaluated, with the question rubric tagged to the list of misconceptions and difficulties.