Common C++ Pointer Misconceptions: Essence and Treatment
Abstract
This paper follows the evolution of persistent pointer and memory management misconceptions through the common CS undergraduate curriculum. The authors surveyed a diverse sample of undergraduate students from two different institutions of higher learning; both housing mature, ABET accredited, undergraduate computer science degree programs. This paper investigates the nature of underlying ill-informed notions about pointers and related topics across the CS curriculum. Finally, the authors provide suggestions for improved curriculum and pedagogy based on the findings.
References
[1]
Bruce Adcock et al. "Which Pointer Errors Do Students Make?" In: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. SIGCSE '07. Covington, Kentucky, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2007, pp. 9--13. isbn: 1595933611. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/1227310.1227317.
[2]
Anthony Allevato, Stephen H. Edwards, and Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones. "Dereferee: Exploring Pointer Mismanagement in Student Code". In: Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. SIGCSE '09. Chattanooga, TN, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2009, pp. 173--177. isbn: 9781605581835. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1508928.
[3]
Jonas Boustedt et al. "Threshold Concepts in Computer Science: Do They Exist and Are They Useful?" In: SIGCSE Bull. 39.1 (Mar. 2007), pp. 504--508. issn: 0097-8418. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227482.
[4]
Michelle Craig and Andrew Petersen. "Student Difficulties with Pointer Concepts in C". In: Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference. ACSW '16. Canberra, Australia: Association for Computing Machinery, 2016. isbn: 9781450340427. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/2843043.2843348.
[5]
Reva Freedman. "Using an Operating Systems Class to Strengthen Students' Knowledge of C++". In: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. SIGCSE '20. Portland, OR, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2020, pp. 947--953. isbn: 9781450367936. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366936.
[6]
Amruth N. Kumar and Rajendra K. Raj. "Computer Science Curricula 2023 (CS2023): Community Engagement by the ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI Joint Task Force". In: Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2. SIGCSE 2023. Toronto ON, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery, 2023, pp. 1212--1213. isbn: 9781450394338. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/3545947.3569591.
[7]
Scott M. Pike, Bruce W. Weide, and Joseph E. Hollingsworth. "Checkmate: Cornering C++ Dynamic Memory Errors with Checked Pointers". In: Proceedings of the Thirty-First SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. SIGCSE '00. Austin, Texas, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2000, pp. 352--356. isbn: 1581132131. url: https://doi.org/10.1145/330908.331884.
[8]
Yizhou Qian and James Lehman. "Students' Misconceptions and Other Difficulties in Introductory Programming: A Literature Review". In: ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. 18.1 (Oct. 2017). url: https://doi.org/10.1145/3077618.
Recommendations
Facing computer science misconceptions: An introductory course based on historical strands and career paths at a glance
FIE '11: Proceedings of the 2011 Frontiers in Education ConferenceIncoming students in post-secondary education often perceive Computer Science (CS) under a series of stereotypes. While it is certainly difficult to define CS, it seems still possible to grasp its scope through comprehensive points of view, addressing ...
Research of Informationization Entrepreneurship Education's Essence and Characteristic
IFITA '10: Proceedings of the 2010 International Forum on Information Technology and Applications - Volume 03Informationization entrepreneurship education is not only the requirement of the information age, but also the requirement of society and economic structure adjustment to talented person. It is a mission the modern society to col leges and universities. ...
A common framework for diverse capstone experiences
FIE'09: Proceedings of the 39th IEEE international conference on Frontiers in education conferenceYear-long senior design capstone courses used to be simple to manage; however, over the past several years they have become increasingly cross-disciplinary and technical in nature, to the point where a single faculty advisor will probably not have ...
Comments
Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.Information & Contributors
Information
Published In
October 2023
347 pages
Publisher
Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges
Evansville, IN, United States
Publication History
Published: 01 October 2023
Published in JCSC Volume 39, Issue 3
Qualifiers
- Research-article
Contributors
Other Metrics
Bibliometrics & Citations
Bibliometrics
Article Metrics
- 0Total Citations
- 21Total Downloads
- Downloads (Last 12 months)21
- Downloads (Last 6 weeks)3
Reflects downloads up to 14 Dec 2024
Other Metrics
Citations
View Options
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Sign in