Peter Alston
David Walsh
Skip Abstract Section
Abstract
The field of Web development has evolved and diversified significantly in recent years, and narrowing the gap between the requirements of academia and the demands of industry remains a challenge. Moreover, many faculty members often struggle with knowing “how much” of a particular subject they should teach to their students and at what level. This small-scale, exploratory study seeks to uncover the existence of “threshold concepts” within Web development. Threshold concepts are the fundamental concepts which, once mastered, allow a learner to progress to a deeper understanding of a subject. An online questionnaire was sent out to 24 instructors within UK higher education institutions who teach Web development subjects. Nine participants responded to the questionnaire and interviews were conducted with five to discuss and expand on the responses provided, resulting in the identification of four areas that were perceived as difficult for students to grasp when learning Web development. Analysis of these areas suggests that threshold concepts do exist within the subject and we offer up two candidates for the field of Web development: basic programming principles and decomposition and abstraction. Designing a curriculum based on threshold concepts and less on the latest methods, tools, and techniques can go a long way in helping students to become experts in their chosen discipline.
- Joelle Adams and Nicole McNab. 2013. Understanding arts and humanities students: Experiences of assessment and feedback. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice 1 (2013), 36--52. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1474022212460743Google Scholar
- Charles Anderson. 1997. Enabling and Shaping Understanding through Tutorials. Scottish Academic Press, 184--197.Google Scholar
- Tony Beecher. 1994. The significance of disciplinary differences. Stud. High. Educ. 19, 2 (1994), 151--161. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079412331382007Google ScholarCross Ref
- John B. Biggs. 2003. Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the Student Does (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press (John Burville).Google Scholar
- Jonathan D. Blake. 2011. Language considerations in the first year CS curriculum. J. Comput. Sci. Coll. 26, 6 (2011), 124--129. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Sue Bloxham. 2007. Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education: A Practical Guide. Open University Press, Maidenhead.Google Scholar
- Jonas Boustedt, Anna Eckerdal, Robert McCartney, Jan Erik Moström, Mark Ratcliffe, Kate Sanders, and Carol Zander. 2007. Threshold concepts in computer science: Do they exist and are they useful? SIGCSE Bull. 39, 1 (2007), 504--508. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227482 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 3, 2 (2006), 77--101. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oaGoogle ScholarCross Ref
- Sally Brown and Peter Knight. 1994. Assessing Learners in Higher Education. Kogan Page, London, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
- Cordelia Bryan and Karen Clegg. 2006. Introduction. Routledge, Abingdon, 1--7.Google Scholar
- Kate Caelli, Lynne Ray, and Judy Mill. 2003. “Clear as mud”: Toward greater clarity in generic qualitative research. Int. J. Qual. Meth. 2, 2 (2003), 1--13.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Patrick Carmichael. 2010. Threshold concepts, disciplinary differences and cross-disciplinary discourse. Learning & Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives 7, 2 (2010), 53--72.Google Scholar
- Patrick Carmichael, Keith Johnstone, Frances Tracy, and Helen Burchmore. 2007. Threshold Concepts: An Emerging Interdisciplinary Research Agenda in Higher Education Research. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, Netherlands.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Randy Connolly. 2012. Criticizing and modernizing computing curriculum: The case of the web and the social issues courses. In Proceedings of the 17th Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education (WCCCE'12). ACM, New York, NY, 52--56. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2247569.2247587 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Randy W. Connolly. 2011. Awakening Rip van Winkle: Modernizing the computer science web curriculum. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE'11). ACM, New York, NY, 18--22. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999756 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Michael Cooper, Andrew Kilpatrick, and Joshue O. Connor. 2014. Techniques for WCAG2.0. Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/Overview.html.Google Scholar
- Glynis Cousin. 2006. An introduction to threshold concepts. Planet 17 (2006), 4--5. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11120/plan.2006.00170004Google ScholarCross Ref
- John W. Creswell. 1998. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
- Mira Crouch and Heather McKenzie. 2006. The logic of small samples in interview- based qualitative research. Soc. Sci. Inf. 45, 4 (2006), 483--499. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0539018406069584Google ScholarCross Ref
- Peter Davies. 2003. Threshold Concepts: How Can We Recognise Them? (August 26--30, 2003). Retrieved from http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/business/iepr/etc/WorkingPapers/etcworkingpaper1.pdf.Google Scholar
- Peter Davies. 2012. Threshold Concepts in Economics Education. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, 250--256.Google Scholar
- Peter Davies and Jean Mangan. 2007. Threshold concepts and the integration of understanding in economics. Stud. Higher Educ. 32, 6 (2007), 711--726. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070701685148Google ScholarCross Ref
- Brian Dorn and Mark Guzdial. 2010. Discovering computing: Perspectives of web designers. In Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Computing Education Research (ICER'10). ACM, New York, NY, 23--30. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1839594.1839600 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Magnus Englander. 2012. The interview: Data collection in descriptive phenomenological human scientific research. J. Phenom. Psychol. 43, 1 (2012), 13--35.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Noel James Entwistle. 1988. Styles of Learning and Teaching: An Integrated Outline of Educational Psychology for Students, Teachers, and Lecturers. David Fulton, London.Google Scholar
- Tia Ghose. 2013. What is Gravity? Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/37115-what-is-gravity.html.Google Scholar
- Ken Goldman, Paul Gross, Cinda Heeren, Geoffrey Herman, Lisa Kaczmarczyk, Michael C. Loui, and Craig Zilles. 2008. Identifying important and difficult concepts in introductory computing courses using a delphi process. SIGCSE Bull. 40, 1 (2008), 256--260. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352226 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Greg Guest, Kathleen M. MacQueen, and Emily E. Namey. 2012. Applied Thematic Analysis. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
- Ann Harlow, Jonathon Scott, Mira Peter, and Bronwen Cowie. 2011. “Getting stuck” in analogue electronics: Threshold concepts as an explanatory model. Eur. J. Eng. Educ. 5 (2011), 435--447. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2011.606500Google ScholarCross Ref
- Jens Kabo and Caroline Baillie. 2009. Seeing through the lens of social justice: A threshold for engineering. Eur. J. Eng. Educ. 34, 4 (2009), 317--325. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043790902987410Google ScholarCross Ref
- Ray Land. 2012. “Venturing into Strange Places: Thresholds, Troublesome Knowledge, Liminality, the Doctoral Journey.” Guest lecture delivered to Doctoral Students at Lancaster University.Google Scholar
- Ray Land, Glynis Cousin, Jan H. F. Meyer, and Peter Davies. 2005. Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (3): Implications for Course Design and Evaluation. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford, 53--64.Google Scholar
- Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. 1999. Learning Pedagogy in Communities of Practice. Chapman, London, 21--33.Google Scholar
- Sara Lin, Jennifer Loertscher, Vicky Minderhout, David Green, and Jennifer Lewis. 2014. Use of student interviews to identify and refine threshold concepts for biochemistry (618.23). FASEB J. 28, 1 Supplement (2014). Retrieved from http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/1_Supplement/618.23.abstract.Google Scholar
- Robert McCartney, Jonas Boustedt, Anna Eckerdal, Jan Erik Moström, Kate Sanders, Lynda Thomas, and Carol Zander. 2009. Liminal spaces and learning computing. Eur. J. Eng. Educ. 34, 4 (2009), 383--391. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043790902989580Google ScholarCross Ref
- Velda McCune and Dai Hounsell. 2005. The development of students' ways of thinking and practising in three final-year biology courses. Higher Educ. Int. J. Higher Educ. Educ. Plann. 49, 3 (2005), 255--289. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6666-0Google Scholar
- Jan H. F. Meyer and Ray Land. 2003. Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (1)—Linkages to Ways of Thinking and Practicing within the Disciplines. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford.Google Scholar
- Jan H. F. Meyer and Ray Land. 2005. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Educ. Int. J. Higher Educ. Educ. Plann. 49, 3 (2005), 373--388. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5Google Scholar
- Jan H. F. Meyer and Ray Land. 2006. Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
- Jan H. F. Meyer, Ray Land, and Peter Davies. 2006. Implications of Threshold Concepts for Course Design and Evaluation. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
- Jennifer A. Moon. 2002. The Module & Programme Development Handbook: A Practical Guide to Linking Levels, Learning Outcomes & Assessment. Kogan Page, London.Google Scholar
- Janice M. Morse. 1998. Designing Funded Qualitative Research (2nd ed.). Vol. 2. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
- Jan Erik Moström, Jonas Boustedt, Anna Eckerdal, Robert McCartney, Kate Sanders, Lynda Thomas, and Carol Zander. 2009. Computer science student transformations: Changes and causes. SIGCSE Bull. 41, 3 (2009), 181--185. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562935 Google ScholarDigital Library
- David Nicol. 2009. Quality Enhancement Themes: The First Year Experience. Transforming Assessment and Feedback: Enhancing Integration and Empowerment in the First Year. Linney Direct, Mansfield. http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/publications/transforming-assessment-and-feedback.pdf.Google Scholar
- Thomas H. Park and Susan Wiedenbeck. 2011. Learning web development: Challenges at an earlier stage of computing education. In Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Computing Education Research (ICER'11). ACM, New York, NY, 125--132. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2016911.2016937 Google ScholarDigital Library
- David Perkins. 1999. The many faces of constructivism. Educ. Leadership 57, 3 (1999), 6--11.Google Scholar
- Mouath Qadah and Saleh M. Al-Shomrani. 2011. Teaching web development course in information system department. In Proceedings of the 2011 3rd International Congress on Engineering Education (ICEED'11). 165--168. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICEED.2011.6235382Google Scholar
- Kathleen Quinlan, Sally Male, Caroline Baillie, Artemis Stamboulis, Johnny Fill, and Zahira Jaffer. 2013. Methodological challenges in researching threshold concepts: A comparative analysis of three projects. Int. J. High. Educ. Res. 66, 5 (2013), 585--601. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9623-yGoogle Scholar
- Paul Ramsden. 2003. Learning to Teach in Higher Education (2nd ed.). RoutledgeFalmer, London.Google Scholar
- Nicola Reimann and Ian Jackson. 2006. Threshold Concepts in Economics: A Case Study. Routledge, London, 115--133.Google Scholar
- Sylvia Rodger and Merrill Turpin. 2011. Using threshold concepts to transform entry level curricula. In Proceedings of the 34th HERDSA Annual International Conference, K. Krause, M. Buckridge, C. Grimmer, and S. Purbick-Illek (Eds.). Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, Inc., 263--274.Google Scholar
- Pauline M. Ross, Charlotte E. Taylor, Chris Hughes, Noel Whitaker, Louise Lutze-Mann, Michelle Kofod, and Vicky Tzioumis. 2010. Threshold concepts in learning biology and evolution. Biol. Int. 47, (Sept. 2010), 47--54. http://biologyinternational.org/volume-47/Google Scholar
- Kate Sanders, Jonas Boustedt, Anna Eckerdal, Robert McCartney, Jan Erik Moström, Lynda Thomas, and Carol Zander. 2012. Threshold concepts and threshold skills in computing. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER'12). ACM, New York, NY, 23--30. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2361276.2361283 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Robert Joel Schinke, Kerry R. McGannon, Randy Cesar Battochio, and Greg D. Wells. 2013. Acculturation in elite sport: A thematic analysis of immigrant athletes and coaches. J. Sports Sci. 31, 15 (2013), 1676--1686. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2013.794949Google ScholarCross Ref
- Martin P. Shanahan, Gigi Foster, and Jan H. F. Meyer. 2006. Operationalising a threshold concept in economics: A pilot study using multiple choice questions on opportunity cost. Int. Rev. Econ. Educ. 5, 2 (2006), 29--57. https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/iree/v5n2/.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Dermot Shinners-Kennedy. 2008. The Everydayness of Threshold Concepts: “State” as an Example from Computer Science. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 119--128.Google Scholar
- Dermot Shinners-Kennedy and Sally A. Fincher. 2013. Identifying threshold concepts: From dead end to a new direction. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER'13). ACM, New York, NY, 9--18. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493396 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Juha Sorva. 2010. Reflections on threshold concepts in computer programming and beyond. In Proceedings of the 10th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli Calling'10). ACM, New York, NY, 21--30. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1930464.1930467 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Helen S. Speziale and Dona R. Carpenter. 2007. Qualitative Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic imperative (4th ed.). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
- Sanjeev K. Srivastava. 2012. Threshold Concepts Framework: An Effective Approach to Address Future Spatial Sciences Pedagogical Challenges. Retrieved from http://www.sssi.org.au/userfiles/docs/QLDRegion/documents_1349830710.pdf.Google Scholar
- Charlotte Taylor. 2006. Threshold Concepts in Biology: Do They Fit the Definition. Routledge, London, 87--99.Google Scholar
- Charlotte E. Taylor and Jan H. F. Meyer. 2010. The Testable Hypothesis as a Threshold Concept for Biology Students. Educational Futures: Rethinking Theory and Practice, Vol. 42. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, Netherlands.Google Scholar
- Lori Townsend, Korey Brunetti, and Amy R. Hofer. 2011. Threshold concepts and information literacy. Portal: Libr. Acad. 11, 3 (2011), 853--869.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sarah J. Tracy. 2010. Qualitative quality: Eight big-tent criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qual. Inquiry 16, 10 (2010), 837--851. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121Google ScholarCross Ref
- Victor Witter Turner. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Routledge & K. Paul, London. Bibliography: pp. 204--208.Google Scholar
- Victor Witter Turner. 1982. From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York. Includes bibliographical references.Google Scholar
- Evgenia Vagianou. 2006. Program working storage: A beginner's model. In Proceedings of the 6th Baltic Sea Conference on Computing Education Research: Koli Calling 2006 (Baltic Sea'06). ACM, New York, NY, 69--76. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1315803.1315816 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Arnold van Gennep. 1960. The Rites of Passage. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
- Ellen L. Walker and Logan Browne. 1999. Teaching web development with limited resources. In The Proceedings of the 30th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE'99). ACM, New York, NY, 12--16. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/299649.299667 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Ye Diana Wang. 2011. Teaching web development at a distance. In Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Information Technology Education (SIGITE'11). ACM, New York, NY, 91--96. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2047594.2047620 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Ye Diana Wang and Nima Zahadat. 2009. Teaching web development in the web 2.0 era. In Proceedings of the 10th ACM Conference on SIG-information Technology Education (SIGITE'09). ACM, New York, NY, 80--86. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1631728.1631753 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kerry Wimshurst. 2011. Applying threshold concepts theory to an unsettled field: An exploratory study in criminal justice education. Stud. High. Educ. 3 (2011), 301--314. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070903556063Google ScholarCross Ref
- April L. Wright and Anne Gilmore. 2012. Threshold concepts and conceptions: Student learning in introductory management courses. J. Manag. Educ. 5 (2012), 614--635. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1052562911429446Google ScholarCross Ref
- Carol Zander, Jonas Boustedt, Robert McCartney, Jan Erik Moström, Kate Sanders, and Lynda Thomas. 2009. Student transformations: Are they computer scientists yet? In Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Computing Education Research Workshop (ICER'09). ACM, New York, NY, 129--140. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1584322.1584337 Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Uncovering “Threshold Concepts” in Web Development: An Instructor Perspective
Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.
Recommendations
Learning web development: challenges at an earlier stage of computing education
ICER '11: Proceedings of the seventh international workshop on Computing education researchWeb development can provide a rich context for exploring computer science concepts and practicing computational creativity. However, little is known about the experiences that people have when first learning web development. In this paper, we ...
Computing Teachers' Perspectives on Threshold Concepts: Functions and Procedural Abstraction
WiPSCE '17: Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing EducationWith the introduction of the new computing curriculum in England, teachers are facing many challenges, among them the teaching of computer programming. Literature suggests that the conceptual understanding of this subject contributes to its difficulty ...
Physical education and sport science undergraduate students as multimedia and web developers: Moving from the user's to the creator's perspective
The increasing importance that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been gaining for Physical Education (PE) and sports pedagogy has generated the need to prepare ICT-proficient prospective PE teachers within PE and sport science ...
Comments