The acquisition of operating systems concepts by computer science students

E. C. Anderssen, C. P.H. Myburgh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Students following an operating systems course often experience difficulties in mastering complex abstract concepts, such as concurrency, scheduling of processes and deadlock. The dining philosophers problem served as an example in demystifying many such difficulties. An experiment was designed in which students were tested on their knowledge of the dining philosophers problem after being exposed to a treatment program in which traditional textbook study methods in comparison to computer-assisted instructional methods were used. The results indicated that CAI techniques in this application do not guarantee an easier acquisition of knowledge than with conventional texts, particularly in relation to abstract concepts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)309-320
Number of pages12
JournalComputers and Education
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 1992

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Computer Science
  • Education

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