Simulators for teaching formal languages and automata theory: a comparative survey

Formal languages and automata theory (FL&AT) are central subjects in the CS curricula which are usually diffcult both to teach and to learn. This situation has motivated the development of a number of computer simulators as educational tools which allow the student to implement and `bring to life' many topics which traditionally were studied and analyzed mathematically rather than algorithmically. This paper discusses the main features of several educational software tools currently available for teaching FL&AT. Advantages and weaknesses of different tools are analyzed and contrasted. Based in our experience, some rationales and practical considerations for the development of this kind of educational tools are proposed.Eje: Tecnología aplicada en EducaciónRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Simulators for teaching formal languages and automata theory: a comparative survey

Formal languages and automata theory (FL&AT) are central subjects in the CS curricula which are usually diffcult both to teach and to learn. This situation has motivated the development of a number of computer simulators as educational tools which allow the student to implement and `bring to life' many topics which traditionally were studied and analyzed mathematically rather than algorithmically. This paper discusses the main features of several educational software tools currently available for teaching FL&AT. Advantages and weaknesses of different tools are analyzed and contrasted. Based in our experience, some rationales and practical considerations for the development of this kind of educational tools are proposed.Eje: Tecnología aplicada en EducaciónRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Visualization of microprocessor execution in computer architecture courses: a case study at Kabul University

Magister Scientiae - MScComputer architecture and assembly language programming microprocessor execution are basic courses taught in every computer science department. Generally, however, students have difficulties in mastering many of the concepts in the courses, particularly students whose first language is not English. In addition to their difficulties in understanding the purpose of given instructions, students struggle to mentally visualize the data movement, control and processing operations. To address this problem, this research proposed a graphical visualization approach and investigated the visual illustrations of such concepts and instruction execution by implementing a graphical visualization simulator as a teaching aid. The graphical simulator developed during the course of this research was applied in a computer architecture course at Kabul University, Afghanistan. Results obtained from student evaluation of the simulator show significant levels of success using the visual simulation teaching aid. The results showed that improved learning was achieved, suggesting that this approach could be useful in other computer science departments in Afghanistan, and elsewhere where similar challenges are experienced.South Afric