Research in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 58

4.2.2.1 Computer Science Education Research from the Learner's
Perspective
Computer science education research works, that focus on learners, address com-
puter science learners at different learning levels, e.g., junior high school, high
school, and undergraduate level, and aim to deepen the understanding of how they
conceive computer science concepts as well as their learning processes.
The inclusion of this research topic in the MTCS course aims to increase the
prospective computer science teachers' awareness to learners' difficulties, to help
them match teaching methods and tools for different learners' needs, and to guide
them in designing the teaching process of different computer science concepts in a
way that supports learners' learning processes (see also Chap. 11).
Two different aspects of learning processes seem to be interchangeable: mis-
takes and misconceptions (see also Chap. 6). A learner's answer, as well as learner's
knowledge and understanding, can be either correct or incorrect. Though a mistake
indicates, in most cases, lack of understanding, it should not necessarily be con-
ceived negatively. Rather, an alternative point of view suggests that mistakes actu-
ally provide learners with the opportunity to correct their knowledge and improve
their current understanding of the said concept, and therefore, further explanations
and practicing is needed. From this perspective, the mere occurrences of learners'
mistakes should encourage teachers to use different learning materials, methods,
or tools in order to improve different cognitive skills. At the same time, however,
a correct answer does not necessarily reflect understanding (see, e.g., Erlwanger
1973 ). Therefore, teachers should use a variety of learning assignments in order to
reveal learners' misconceptions.
From the early research works in mathematics education and computer science
education (e.g., Erlwanger 1973 ; Perkins and Martin 1986 ; Smith et al. 1993 ) we
learn that in most cases, misconceptions are consistent and systematic, thought they
could appear in multiple contexts; misconceptions are stable against attempts to
change them; and misconceptions can sometimes block learning processes. There-
fore, we should not use the term “mistake correction,” which indicates that if we
just correct the mistake we prevent the misconception and improve the learners'
understanding. Rather, we should look for misconceptions and help learners correct
them by looking for and addressing their source. This alternative approach leads to
an improved concept understanding as well as correct answers in the future. In other
words, teaching processes which are sensitive to misconceptions support the learn-
ing process since they guide learners in constructing their knowledge by themselves
and in accordance with their own knowledge structures (see also the constructivist
approach in Chap. 2). Clearly, this perspective should be delivered and discussed
with the prospective computer science teachers in the MTCS course. It will be fur-
ther elaborated in Chap. 6, where learners' alternative conceptions are explored in
depth.
In addition to the rich aspects mentioned above, we mention a technological
aspect in general and the integration of computerized tools in particular. Even
the tendency to agree that, in some cases, different visualization and animation