Toys are us: presenting mathematical concepts in CS1/CS2

Author

Bucci, Paolo ; Long, Timothy J. ; Weide, Bruce W. ; Hollingsworth, Joe

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. & Inf. Sci., Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, USA

Volume

2

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Abstract

Presentation and use of formally-specified software components in CS1/CS2 presents interesting pedagogical challenges. Specifications may involve unfamiliar mathematical concepts and notation. We have found that the use of toys, such as stacking plastic cups and Lego(C) blocks, to be amazingly effective in helping students develop mental models for mathematical concepts. With the aid of these mental models, students are able to understand the behavior of software components through cover stories (their specifications), without knowing the implementations of the components

Keywords

computer science education; formal logic; formal specification; human factors; teaching; CS1/CS2; Lego blocks; computer science education; cover stories; formally-specified software components; mathematical concepts; mental models; pedagogical challenges; software components; specifications; stacking plastic cups; students; unfamiliar mathematical concepts; Animation; Binary trees; Cognitive science; Context modeling; Data structures; Data visualization; Formal specifications; Mathematical model; Mathematics; Software engineering;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frontiers in Education Conference, 2000. FIE 2000. 30th Annual

Conference_Location

Kansas City, MO

ISSN

0190-5848

Print_ISBN

0-7803-6424-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FIE.2000.896585

Filename

896585