Extending a Concept Inventory - Covering CS0 - CS2 Topics

Students entering Computer Science (CS) programs are arriving at college with a varying knowledge of coding and CS. The rigid structure suggested to all, does not fit everybody. But finding the correct starting course in CS at college level is not simple, since students may not understand that CS is not only coding. The failure of a good selection on where to start the CS program can be a hindrance to students, since they may perceive that CS is not for them because it appears to be too hard, or they may perceive it as too easy and lose their interest. The General Concept Inventory for Introductory Computer Science (GCSCI) was created to tackle this problem, it can be roughly divided in two parts. In previous research authors have presented the validation of the first part, that can assess concepts that are usually taught in CS0 and CS1. This work presents the second part of GCSCI, the topics covered and its validity assessment. This part of the assessment contains 42 questions that assess topics from object orientation to data structures and sorting. All students doing CS2 in Fall 2023 were invited to participate, from the 42 questions being evaluated; 20 had a good coverage and were validated in terms of discrimination and difficulty level.