skip to main content
10.1145/1288580.1288597acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesicerConference Proceedingsconference-collections
Article

From Limen to Lumen: computing students in liminal spaces

Published: 15 September 2007 Publication History

Abstract

This paper is part of an ongoing series of projects in which we are investigating "threshold concepts": concepts that, among other things, transforms the way a student looks as the discipline and are often troublesome to learn. The word "threshold" might imply that students cross the threshold in a single "aha" moment, but often they seem to take longer. Meyer and Land introduce the term "liminal space" for the transitional period between beginning to learn a concept and fully mastering it.
Based on in-depth interviews with graduating seniors, we found that the liminal space can provide a useful metaphor for the concept learning process. In addition to observing the standard features of liminal spaces, we have identified some that may be specific to computing, specifically those relating to levels of abstraction.

References

[1]
B. Bloom(Ed.). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the classification of educational goals - Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. McKay, New York, 1956.
[2]
J. Boustedt, A. Eckerdal, R. McCartney, J. E. Moström, M. Ratcliffe, K. Sanders, and C. Zander. Threshold concepts in computer science: do they exist and are they useful? In SIGCSE-2007, pages 504--508, Covington, KY, March 2007.
[3]
B. J. Cooper. The enigma of the Chinese learner. Accounting Education, 13(3):289--310, 2004.
[4]
P. Davies. Threshold concepts: how can we recognise them? 2003. Paper presented at EARLI conference, Padova. http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/business/iepr/docs/etcworkingpaper(1).doc (accessed 25 August 2006).
[5]
E. Dijkstra. On the cruelty of really teaching computing science. Commun. ACM, 32(12):1398--1404, 1989.
[6]
A. Eckerdal, R. McCartney, J. E. Moström, M. Ratcliffe, K. Sanders, and C. Zander. Putting threshold concepts into context in computer science education. In ITiCSE-06, pages 103--107, Bologna, Italy, June 2006.
[7]
J. Hughes and D. R. Peiris. ASSISTing CS1 students to learn: learning approaches and object-oriented programming. In ITiCSE-06, pages 275--279, Bologna, Italy, June 2006.
[8]
P. N. Johnson-Laird. Mental models: towards a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Harvard University Press, 1983.
[9]
D. Kember. Misconceptions about the learning approaches, motivation and study practices of Asian students. Higher Education, 40:99--121, 2000.
[10]
F. Marton, D. Watkins, and C. Tang. Discontinuities and continuities in the experience of learning: An interview study of high-school students in Hong Kong. Learning and Instruction, 7(1):21--48, 1997.
[11]
R. McCartney, A. Eckerdal, J. E. Moström, K. Sanders, and C. Zander. Successful students' strategies for getting unstuck. In ITiCSE-07, pages 156--160, Dundee, Scotland, UK, June 2007.
[12]
J. Mead, S. Gray, J. Hamer, R. James, J. Sorva, C. St. Clair, and L. Thomas. A cognitive approach to identifying measurable milestones for programming skill acquisition. In ITiCSE-WGR '06: Working group reports on ITiCSE on Innovation and technology in computer science education, pages 182--194, New York, NY, USA, 2006. ACM Press.
[13]
J. Meyer and R. Land. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. ETL Project Occasional Report 4, 2003. http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport4.pdf.
[14]
J. H. Meyer and R. Land. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49:373--388, 2005.
[15]
O. Muller. Pattern oriented instruction and the enhancement of analogical reasoning. In ICER '05: Proceedings of the 2005 international workshop on Computing education research, pages 57--67, New York, NY, USA, 2005. ACM Press.
[16]
L. Murphy and J. Tenenberg. Do computer science students know what they know?: a calibration study of data structure knowledge. In ITiCSE '05: Proceedings of the 10th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education, pages 148--152, New York, NY, USA, 2005. ACM Press.
[17]
D. Perkins. The many faces of constructivism. Educational Leadership, 57(3):6--11, 1999.
[18]
D. N. Perkins and F. Martin. Fragile knowledge and neglected strategies in novice programmers. In Papers presented at the first workshop on empirical studies of programmers on Empirical studies of programmers, pages 213--229, Norwood, NJ, USA, 1986. Ablex Publishing Corp.
[19]
J. A. Shymansky, G. Woodworth, O. Norman, J. Dunkhase, C. Matthews, and C.-T. Liu. A study of changes in middle school teachers' understanding of selected ideas in science as a function of an in-service program focusing on student preconceptions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30:737--755, 1993.
[20]
J. A. Shymansky, G. Woodworth, O. Norman, J. Dunkhase, C. Matthews, and C.-T. Liu. Examining the construction process: a study of changes in level 10 students' understanding of classical mechanics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34(6):571--593, 1997.
[21]
V. Turner. From Ritual to Theatre: the human seriousness of play. Performing Arts Publications, New York, 1982.
[22]
L. Vygotsky. Mind in Society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1978.

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Applying Threshold Concepts Strategies to Teaching Computing Students in an ODL ContextOpen Praxis10.55982/openpraxis.16.2.55216:2(225-236)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2024
  • (2024)Intersecting Liminality: Acquiring a Smartphone as a Blind or Low Vision Older AdultProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675622(1-14)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
  • (2024)Mining Jewels Together: Debating about Programming Threshold Concepts in Large ClassesProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630893(1189-1195)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
  • Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences
ICER '07: Proceedings of the third international workshop on Computing education research
September 2007
172 pages
ISBN:9781595938411
DOI:10.1145/1288580
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Sponsors

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 15 September 2007

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Check for updates

Author Tags

  1. learning theory
  2. liminal space
  3. threshold concepts

Qualifiers

  • Article

Conference

ICER07
Sponsor:
ICER07: International Computing Education Research Workshop
September 15 - 16, 2007
Georgia, Atlanta, USA

Acceptance Rates

ICER '07 Paper Acceptance Rate 14 of 24 submissions, 58%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 189 of 803 submissions, 24%

Upcoming Conference

ICER 2025
ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research
August 3 - 6, 2025
Charlottesville , VA , USA

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

  • Downloads (Last 12 months)18
  • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)2
Reflects downloads up to 18 Feb 2025

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Applying Threshold Concepts Strategies to Teaching Computing Students in an ODL ContextOpen Praxis10.55982/openpraxis.16.2.55216:2(225-236)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2024
  • (2024)Intersecting Liminality: Acquiring a Smartphone as a Blind or Low Vision Older AdultProceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3663548.3675622(1-14)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
  • (2024)Mining Jewels Together: Debating about Programming Threshold Concepts in Large ClassesProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630893(1189-1195)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
  • (2024)Message in a Bottle: Investigating Bioart Installations as a Transdisciplinary Means of Community EngagementProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642339(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
  • (2023)Identification of Threshold Concepts for Intermediate Computer Science Students2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343211(1-5)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
  • (2023)Learning programming practice and programming theory in the computer laboratoryEuropean Journal of Engineering Education10.1080/03043797.2023.229495349:2(330-347)Online publication date: 26-Dec-2023
  • (2022)Self-efficacy, Interest, and Belongingness – URM Students’ Momentary Experiences in CS1Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3501385.3543958(44-60)Online publication date: 3-Aug-2022
  • (2022)Students’ learning process in the computer laboratory2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE56618.2022.9962716(1-6)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2022
  • (2022)Students’ perspectives on computational challenges in physics classPhysical Review Physics Education Research10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.02010918:2Online publication date: 2-Aug-2022
  • (2021)All the Pieces Matter: The Relationship of Momentary Self-efficacy and Affective Experiences with CS1 Achievement and Interest in ComputingProceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research10.1145/3446871.3469740(252-265)Online publication date: 16-Aug-2021
  • Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media