The Non-Deterministic Path to Concurrency - Exploring how Students Understand the Abstractions of Concurrency.
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| Title: | The Non-Deterministic Path to Concurrency - Exploring how Students Understand the Abstractions of Concurrency. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | STRÖMBÄCK, Filip1 filip.stromback@liu.se, MANNILA, Linda1 linda.mannila@liu.se, KAMKAR, Mariam1 mariam.kamkar@liu.se |
| Source: | Informatics in Education. Dec2021, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p683-715. 33p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Students |
| Abstract: | Concurrency is often perceived as difficult by students. One reason for this may be due to the fact that abstractions used in concurrent programs leave more situations undefined compared to sequential programs (e.g., in what order statements are executed), which makes it harder to create a proper mental model of the execution environment. Students who aim to explore the abstractions through testing are further hindered by the non-determinism of concurrent programs since even incorrect programs may seem to work properly most of the time. In this paper we aim to explore how students' understanding these abstractions by examining 137 solutions to two concurrency questions given on the final exam in two years of an introductory concurrency course. To highlight problematic areas of these abstractions, we present alternative abstractions under which each incorrect solution would be correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Informatics in Education is the property of Informatics in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 154469897 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: The Non-Deterministic Path to Concurrency - Exploring how Students Understand the Abstractions of Concurrency. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22STRÖMBÄCK%2C+Filip%22">STRÖMBÄCK, Filip</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> filip.stromback@liu.se</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22MANNILA%2C+Linda%22">MANNILA, Linda</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> linda.mannila@liu.se</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22KAMKAR%2C+Mariam%22">KAMKAR, Mariam</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> mariam.kamkar@liu.se</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Informatics+in+Education%22">Informatics in Education</searchLink>. Dec2021, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p683-715. 33p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Students%22">Students</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Concurrency is often perceived as difficult by students. One reason for this may be due to the fact that abstractions used in concurrent programs leave more situations undefined compared to sequential programs (e.g., in what order statements are executed), which makes it harder to create a proper mental model of the execution environment. Students who aim to explore the abstractions through testing are further hindered by the non-determinism of concurrent programs since even incorrect programs may seem to work properly most of the time. In this paper we aim to explore how students' understanding these abstractions by examining 137 solutions to two concurrency questions given on the final exam in two years of an introductory concurrency course. To highlight problematic areas of these abstractions, we present alternative abstractions under which each incorrect solution would be correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Informatics in Education is the property of Informatics in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=154469897 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.15388/infedu.2021.29 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 33 StartPage: 683 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Students Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The Non-Deterministic Path to Concurrency - Exploring how Students Understand the Abstractions of Concurrency. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: STRÖMBÄCK, Filip – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: MANNILA, Linda – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: KAMKAR, Mariam IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 12 Text: Dec2021 Type: published Y: 2021 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 16485831 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 20 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Informatics in Education Type: main |
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