Constructivism in Computing
We have conducted a number of research projects since 2005, all with the same basic goal of identifying the commonsense knowledge beginners bring to the study of CS. Our motivation is the constructivist theory about how people learn, starting with what they already know and building knowledge on that foundation, rather than receiving it passively from an instructor.
Constructivist learning theory says that learning is grounded in and constructed from prior understanding and belief. Each learner's background, culture, and previous knowledge define his or her starting point. In order to explore the prior understanding and belief of beginning computer science students, the Commonsense Computing Project asks students to answer computer science questions on the first day of their first course.
What We Know...
- Beginner CS students demonstrate commonsense knowledge about important CS topics that can be leveraged to improve instruction.
- Beginner CS students demonstrate roughly equivalent intuition about concurrency as roughly equivalent to experienced CS students beginning a concurrency course.
- Constructivist education begins with commonsense knowledge, helps students discover its utility, and provides tools for more complex approaches rooted in CS knowledge.
...And What We're Working On Now
- Students' commonsense understanding of logic
- Students' commonsense skills in GUI evaluation
- Instructor's guide to students' commonsense abilities (retrospective of prior work)
