Senior Computer Science Students’ Task and Revised Task Interpretation While Engaged in Programming Endeavor

Developing a computer program is not an easy task. Studies reported that a large number of computer science students decided to change their major due to the extreme challenge in learning programming. Fortunately, studies also reported that learning various self-regulation strategies may help students to continue studying computer science. This study is interested in assessing students’ self-regulation, in specific their task understanding and its revision during programming endeavors. Task understanding is specifically selected because it affects the entire programming endeavor. In this qualitative case study, two female and two male senior computer science students were voluntarily recruited as research participants. They were asked to think aloud while answering five programming problems. Before solving the problem, they had to explain their understanding of the task and after that answer some questions related to their problem-solving process. The participants’ problem-solving process were video and audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. This study found that the participants’ were capable of tailoring their problem-solving approach to the task types, including when understanding the tasks. Given enough time, the participants can understand the problem correctly. When the task is complicated, the participants will gradually update their understanding during the problem-solving endeavor. Some situations may have prevented the participants from understanding the task correctly, including overconfidence, being overwhelmed, utilizing an inappropriate presentation technique, or drawing knowledge from irrelevant experience. Last, the participants tended to be inexperienced in managing unfavorable outcomes

ヨセフスの問題とその逆問題に対する線形時間アルゴリズム

Tohoku University篠原

Acceleration of software execution time for operations involving sequences or matrices

The article describes three methods for lowering program runtime that are solutions to computer science Olympiad problems involving sequences or matrices. The first method relies on the representation of some sequences as matrices, after which the program for calculating the sequence's members will have asymptotics equivalent to the exponentiation algorithm's time complexity and be O(log (n)). The second strategy is to improve the existing code in order to significantly shorten program runtime. For scientists who create code for scientific inquiries and deal with matrix multiplication operations, understanding this approach is crucial. The author's challenge is presented and solved using the third strategy, which is based on minimizing temporal complexity by looking for regularities.The article describes three methods for lowering program runtime that are solutions to computer science Olympiad problems involving sequences or matrices. The first method relies on the representation of some sequences as matrices, after which the program for calculating the sequence's members will have asymptotics equivalent to the exponentiation algorithm's time complexity and be O(log (n)). The second strategy is to improve the existing code in order to significantly shorten program runtime. For scientists who create code for scientific inquiries and deal with matrix multiplication operations, understanding this approach is crucial. The author's challenge is presented and solved using the third strategy, which is based on minimizing temporal complexity by looking for regularities

Mathematical Surprises

This is open access book provides plenty of pleasant mathematical surprises. There are many fascinating results that do not appear in textbooks although they are accessible with a good knowledge of secondary-school mathematics. This book presents a selection of these topics including the mathematical formalization of origami, construction with straightedge and compass (and other instruments), the five- and six-color theorems, a taste of Ramsey theory and little-known theorems proved by induction. Among the most surprising theorems are the Mohr-Mascheroni theorem that a compass alone can perform all the classical constructions with straightedge and compass, and Steiner's theorem that a straightedge alone is sufficient provided that a single circle is given. The highlight of the book is a detailed presentation of Gauss's purely algebraic proof that a regular heptadecagon (a regular polygon with seventeen sides) can be constructed with straightedge and compass. Although the mathematics used in the book is elementary (Euclidean and analytic geometry, algebra, trigonometry), students in secondary schools and colleges, teachers, and other interested readers will relish the opportunity to confront the challenge of understanding these surprising theorems