The dimensions of variation in the teaching of data structures

Lister, R; Box, I; Morrison, B; Tenenberg, J; Westbrook, DS

The dimensions of variation in the teaching of data structures

Lister, R

Box, I Morrison, B Tenenberg, J Westbrook, DS

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Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Proceedings of the 9th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 2004, pp. 92 - 96
Issue Date:: 2004-12-20

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lister, R https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5780-0445	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Box, I	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Morrison, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Tenenberg, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Westbrook, DS	en_US
dc.date.issued	2004-12-20	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Proceedings of the 9th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 2004, pp. 92 - 96	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	1581138369	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	9781581138368	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/7454
dc.description.abstract	The current debate about the teaching of data structures is hampered because, as a community, we usually debate specifics about data structure implementations and libraries, when the real level of disagreement remains implicit - the intent behind our teaching. This paper presents a phenomenographic study of the intent of CS educators for teaching data structures in CS2. Based on interviews with Computer Science educators and analysis of CS literature, we identified five categories of intent: developing transferable thinking, improving students' programming skills, knowing "what's under the hood", knowledge of software libraries, and component thinking. The CS community needs to first debate at the level of these categories before moving to more specific issues. This study also serves as an example of how phenomenographic analysis can be used to inform debate on syllabus design in general.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Proceedings of the 9th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	en_US
dc.title	The dimensions of variation in the teaching of data structures	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.for	0899 Other Information and Computing Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	Leeds, UK	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Computer Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - HCTD - Human Centred Technology Design
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US

Abstract:

The current debate about the teaching of data structures is hampered because, as a community, we usually debate specifics about data structure implementations and libraries, when the real level of disagreement remains implicit - the intent behind our teaching. This paper presents a phenomenographic study of the intent of CS educators for teaching data structures in CS2. Based on interviews with Computer Science educators and analysis of CS literature, we identified five categories of intent: developing transferable thinking, improving students' programming skills, knowing "what's under the hood", knowledge of software libraries, and component thinking. The CS community needs to first debate at the level of these categories before moving to more specific issues. This study also serves as an example of how phenomenographic analysis can be used to inform debate on syllabus design in general.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/7454