computer science

Marian Petre

Marian Petre is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Marian Petre rather than just read about it. In short: Marian Petre (born 1959) is a British computer scientist and Professor of Computing at the Open University and Director of its Centre for Research in Computing (CRC), known for her work on Visual Programming Environments, and co-developed the concept of cognitive dimensions of notations. Education Petre obtained her Ph.D. in computer science from the University College London in 1989.

Key takeaways

Marian Petre belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Marian Petre to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Marian Petre from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Marian Petre (born 1959) is a British computer scientist and Professor of Computing at the Open University and Director of its Centre for Research in Computing (CRC), known for her work on Visual Programming Environments, and co-developed the concept of cognitive dimensions of notations.

Education Petre obtained her Ph.D. in computer science from the University College London in 1989.

Career and research In 1990, she started her academic career at the Institute for Perception Research (IPO), in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which was directed by Theo Bemelmans. Back in Britain she joined the Open University and started cooperation with Thomas R.G. Green, with whom she developed the concept of cognitive dimensions of notations. At the Open University she was eventually promoted to Professor of Computing. Petre was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in "recognition of her empirical research into software design."

Awards and honors She is a recipient of the Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship and an ACM Distinguished Member.

Selected publications Her selected publications include:

Fincher, Sally, and Marian Petre, eds. Computer science education research. CRC Press, 2004. Petre, Marian, and Gordon Rugg. The unwritten rules of PhD research. McGraw-Hill International, 2010. Green, Thomas R.G., Marian Petre, and R. K. E. Bellamy. "Comprehensibility of visual and textual programs: A test of superlativism against the’match-mismatch’conjecture." ESP 91.743 (1991): 121–146. Petre, Marian. "Why looking isn't always seeing: readership skills and graphical programming." Communications of the ACM 38.6 (1995): 33–44. doi:10.1145/203241.203251 Green, Thomas R. G., and Marian Petre. "Usability analysis of visual programming environments: a ‘cognitive dimensions’ framework." Journal of Visual Languages & Computing 7.2 (1996): 131–174. doi:10.1006/jvlc.1996.0009 Petre, Marian, and Alan F. Blackwell. "Mental imagery in program design and visual programming." International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 51.1 (1999): 7-30. Carswell, L., Thomas, P., Petre, M., Price, B., & Richards, M. (2000). "Distance education via the Internet: The student experience." British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(1), 29-46 doi:10.1111/1467-8535.00133

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marian Petre

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marian Petre claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Marian Petre before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Marian Petre ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Marian Petre

In research: Marian Petre appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Marian Petre in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Marian Petre is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1959 births, Academics of the Open University, Alumni of University College London, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marian Petre outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Marian Petre in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Marian Petre means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Marian Petre out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Marian Petre in simple terms?

Why does Marian Petre matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Marian Petre?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Marian Petre.