Recursion

Recursion is a core concept in computer science and programming. Recursively solving a problem involves solving a simpler or previous version of the problem.

Decoding work done

In a video Suzane Menzel reports on the process of decoding recursion:

1. Identify Bottleneck: recursion in algorithms 0.00
2. Uncover the Mental Moves of the expert 1.26-2.16 Uncover the tacit knowledge of experts about recursion. Recursion can be about structure and occurs when one of the parts looks like the whole; There’s a process part of recursion –building recursion.
3. Modeling (1.12) uses analogies; an Alice Through the Looking Glass image shows how the parts look like the whole; also 2:18 Collecting back the Russian Nesting Dolls as an analogy for the process of collecting the pieces in a recursion that is so difficult for students to understand.
4. Practice the recursion structure through code reviews 4.20 AND TBL quizzes on several kinds of algorithms. (5.20)
5. Motivation 5.56 Team-based learning: students work in teams of 4-7
6. Assessment 7.17 n=190 students final test scores were compared with students in previous semesters (non-Decoding methodology) to with Decoding and found significant results on both the list and tree recursion programming. List recursion in semester w/out Decoding B grade avg; in semester with Decoding, A-. Tree recursion from C to B-. As well, student commented that they enjoyed the Decoding approach, because their brains were being trained which “…challenges you to think in a completely new way.” They also enjoyed working in teams.
7. Share  8.41: analyze results of the several assessments and Go public with them as in the attached video.

Researchers involved

Suzanne Menzel

Related Work

• Algorithm Design

Available resources

• Suzanne Menzel - Decoding Recursion in Computing (Youtube video)

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