Inside the Degree, Outside the Discipline? Testing an Asymmetric Appraisal Model of the Curricular Legitimacy Gap in Computing Education

[2512.06529] Inside the Degree, Outside the Discipline? Testing an Asymmetric Appraisal Model of the Curricular Legitimacy Gap in Computing Education Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Computer Science > Computers and Society arXiv:2512.06529 (cs) [Submitted on 6 Dec 2025 ( v1 ), last revised 25 Aug 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Inside the Degree, Outside the Discipline? Testing an Asymmetric Appraisal Model of the Curricular Legitimacy Gap in Computing Education Authors: Md Abdullah Al Kafi , Walayat Hussain , Raka Moni View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Required broader coursework can secure participation without being recognised as legitimate computing knowledge. This study conceptualises this disconnect as a curricular legitimacy gap and tests an asymmetric appraisal model grounded in situated expectancy value theory. The model distinguishes curricular devaluation, judging broader coursework unnecessary or professionally irrelevant, from integrative intention, or willingness to reuse its learning. Survey data from 212 Computer Science and Engineering undergraduates in Bangladesh recruited through snowball sampling were analysed using robust structural equation modelling. Primary inference combined robust direct-path estimates with 5,000 respondent-level bootstrap resamples; alternative measurement, response-quality, and ordinal-estimator specifications were also examined. Perceived burden was positively associated with devaluation, which was negatively associated with intention. The standardised indirect association of burden with intention through devaluation was -0.350, 95% CI [-0.589, -0.169]. Perceived benefits were associated with stronger intention through lower devaluation, indirect association 0.141, 95% CI [0.058, 0.253], and an additional positive direct pathway. The model explained 47.6% of the variance in devaluation and 40.6% in intention. The direct burden-to-intention pathway was unsupported under the primary estimator but significant in the opposite-to-hypothesised direction under ordinal estimation; this residual path is therefore treated as estimator-dependent. The results support a distinction among requirements, valuation, intention, and behaviour and suggest that cost reduction and utility development address different curricular problems. Given the cross-sectional, nonprobability design and developing measures, all pathways are interpreted as associations rather than causal mediation. Subjects: Computers and Society (cs.CY) ; Social and Information Networks (cs.SI) Cite as: arXiv:2512.06529 [cs.CY] (or arXiv:2512.06529v2 [cs.CY] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2512.06529 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Md Abdullah Al Kafi [ view email ] [v1] Sat, 6 Dec 2025 18:36:10 UTC (88 KB) [v2] Tue, 25 Aug 2026 07:35:35 UTC (99 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: cs.CY < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-12 Change to browse by: cs cs.SI References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. 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