Teaching Discrete Structures: A systematic review of the literature

This survey paper reviews a large sample of publications on the teaching of discrete structures and discrete mathematics in computer science curricula. The approach is systematic, in that a structured search of electronic resources has been conducted, and the results are presented and quantitatively analysed. A number of broad themes in discrete structures education are identified relating to course content, teaching strategies and the means of evaluating the success of a course

Teaching Discrete Structures: A systematic review of the literature

This survey paper reviews a large sample of publications on the teaching of discrete structures and discrete mathematics in computer science curricula. The approach is systematic, in that a structured search of electronic resources has been conducted, and the results are presented and quantitatively analysed. A number of broad themes in discrete structures education are identified relating to course content, teaching strategies and the means of evaluating the success of a course

Teaching Mathematics to Computer Scientists: Reflections and a Case Study

Mathematics, despite being the foundation of computer science, is nowadays often considered a totally separate subject. The fact that many jobs in computer science do not explicitly require any specific mathematical knowledge posed questions about the importance of mathematics within computer science undergraduate curricula. In many educational systems a prior high school knowledge of mathematics is often not a mandatory requirement to be enrolled into a degree of computer science. On the other hand, several studies report that mathematics is important to computer scientists since it provides essential analytical and critical skills and since many professional and research tasks in computer science require an in-depth understanding of mathematical concepts. From this assumption, this article proposes an analysis of the cohort of computer science' students, with a specific reference to British Universities, and identifies some challenges that lecturers of mathematical subjects normally face. On the basis of this analysis this article proposes two teaching techniques to promote effective learning. The proposed techniques aim at addressing the diversity of cohorts in terms of mathematical background and skepticism from part of the cohort of students to consider mathematics as an essential element of their education. Numerical results indicate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed teaching techniques

Teaching Specifications Using An Interactive Reasoning Assistant

The importance of verifiably correct software has grown enormously in recent years as software has become integral to the design of critical systems, including airplanes, automobiles, and medical equipment. Hence, the importance of solid analytical reasoning skills to complement basic programming skills has also increased. If developers cannot reason about the software they design, they cannot ensure the correctness of the resulting systems. And if these systems fail, the economic and human costs can be substantial. In addition to learning analytical reasoning principles as part of the standard Computer Science curriculum, students must be excited about learning these skills and engaged in their practice. Our approach to achieving these goals at the introductory level is based on the Test Case Reasoning Assistant (TCRA), interactive courseware that allows students to provide test cases that demonstrate their understanding of instructor-supplied interface specifications while receiving immediate feedback as they work. The constituent tools also enable instructors to rapidly generate graphs of student performance data to understand the progress of their classes. We evaluate the courseware using two case-studies. The evaluation centers on understanding the impact of the tool on students\u27 ability to read and interpret specifications

An investigation of software engineering curricula

We adapted a survey instrument developed by Timothy Lethbridge to assess the extent to which the education delivered by four UK universities matches the requirements of the software industry. We propose a survey methodology that we believe addresses the research question more appropriately than the one used by Lethbridge. In particular, we suggest that restricting the scope of the survey to address the question of whether the curricula for a specific university addressed the needs of its own students, allowed us to identify an appropriate target population. However, our own survey suffered from several problems. In particular the questions used in the survey are not ideal, and the response rate was poor.Although the poor response rate reduces the value of our results, our survey appears to confirm several of Lethbridge's observations with respect to the over-emphasis of mathematical topics and the under-emphasis on business topics. We also have a close agreement with respect to the relative importance of different software engineering topics. However the set of topics, that we found were taught far less than their importance would suggest, were quite different from the topics identified by Lethbridge

Forty years of computers and education : A roller-coaster relationship

For forty years the relationship between computers and education has been engaged in a headlong journey, full of ups and downs, wild swerves to right and left, somehow both exhilarating and frightening, sometimes in tandem but at others barely still holding hands. The engine of the technologies keeps changing while the driver is sometimes a discipline, learners, or the teacher. The landscape passed along the way includes fleeting glimpses of beautiful but unconquerable mountains followed by attractive rivers with treacherous currents. The population is sometimes persuaded by innovators to come along for the ride, and then suddenly they embark on their own journey into an entirely different valley. The paper analyses this journey along the TC3 twin track of education with and about information and communication technologies, using evidence from its publications and debates, organisational structure and the influence of individuals. The presentation, from one who is neither a computer scientist nor mathematician, will aim to portray a particular perspective on this roller-coaster relationship.2nd IFIP Conference on the History of Computing and EducationRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

The curriculum production trajectory of the Discrete Mathematics discipline in an undergraduate technology course

Orientador: Elisabeth BarolliTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb WataghinResumo: Esta pesquisa de doutorado consiste em um estudo de caso interpretativo que objetiva caracterizar a trajetória de produção de currículo da Matemática Discreta (MD) da sua formulação inicial como disciplina na Ciência da Computação à implementação de sua prescrição na moldagem realizada por seis professores do curso superior de tecnologia em Análise e Desenvolvimento de Sistemas (ADS) de uma instituição de Ensino Superior Tecnológico (IEST) brasileira. Orientada pela questão investigativa: que caminhos foram percorridos pela produção curricular da MD na sua trajetória pelos contextos de influência, produção de texto e prática em um curso superior de tecnologia em ADS? ¿ a pesquisa tem por referenciais contribuições da Teoria de Currículo (GIMENO SACRISTÁN), da História das Disciplinas (GOODSON) e da Abordagem do Ciclo de Políticas (BALL et al.) nas conceituações que propiciaram acerca do currículo da MD como processo resultante do cruzamento de influências diversas nas quais a disciplina foi submetida da sua constituição à sua implementação na prática em ADS. Em termos metodológicos, trata-se de uma investigação qualitativa que explorou a produção curricular da disciplina de MD na pesquisa bibliográfica que incidiu sobre os últimos quarenta anos de sua existência universitária e na pesquisa de campo com seis professores atuantes em campi da IEST cujos depoimentos colhidos em entrevistas semi-estruturadas foram submetidos a uma análise narrativa. Para tanto, a caracterização da produção em questão se deu em torno das etapas da constituição disciplinar, prescrição curricular e implementação da MD que integram a trajetória em correspondência aos contextos de influência, produção de textos e prática do Ciclo de Políticas, respectivamente. Os resultados da pesquisa no estudo realizado nas suas duas primeiras etapas apontam que a constituição e a prescrição da MD no bacharelado em Ciência da Computação e na tecnologia em ADS não só estiveram articulados entre si em termos de produção curricular, como também ocorreram num território contestado em torno de posicionamentos, propósitos e discursos diversos advindos de disputas e acordos entre grupos de interesse envolvidos em definir o que seria essa disciplina e o que significaria ser educado por ela perante as demandas de um mercado de trabalho em constante expansão e de uma indústria computacional em expressivo desenvolvimento tecnológico. Na terceira etapa, os resultados obtidos apontam que na sala de aula há produção de currículo da MD, evidenciando o papel de intelectuais transformadores exercido pelos seis professores entrevistados, cuja diversidade de versões particulares que elaboraram dessa disciplina demonstrou que sua produção em sala de aula não se dá numa relação simples e direta entre prescrição e implementação, mas conflitada é por intenções de aceitação e resistência, continuidade e ruptura com a proposta que lhes foi apresentada segundo aspectos que relacionaram à própria prescrição, à formação e saberes profissionais, ao relacionamento com a coordenação e colegas de curso, ao perfil dos alunos e à finalidades curriculares por eles valorizadas à luz de seus ideários docentes e dos modos pelos quais lidaram com condições contextuais que atravessaram a implementação da disciplina no contexto da prática de seus cursos de ADSAbstract: This doctoral research consists of an interpretative case study that aims to characterize the Discrete Mathematics (DM) discipline curriculum production trajectory that ranges from its initial formulation as a Computer Science undergraduate course to the implementation of its prescribed curriculum in the molding made by six professors at a technological course in System Analysis and Development (SAD) of a brazilian Technological College (BTC). Oriented by the investigative question: what paths were traveled by the DM curriculum production in its trajectory by the contexts of influence, text production and practice in an technological course in SAD? This doctoral research has as reference contributions derived from Curriculum Theory (GIMENO SACRISTÁN), from History of Disciplines (GOODSON) and from the Policy Cycle approach (BALL et al.) in their conceptualizations provided about the DM curriculum as a process resulting from the crossing of diverse influences in which the discipline was submitted from its constitution to its implementation in SAD. As of its methodological procedures, this is a qualitative study that explores the MD curriculum production in a bibliographical research that focus on the last forty years of its university existence and the field research with the interview of six professors teaching at BTC campuses whose production was submitted to a Narrative Analysis. For that, the characterization of the named production happened in the steps of disciplinary constitution, curricular prescription and DM implementation that integrate the trajectory in correspondence of the context of influence, text production and practice, respectively. The results of this research in the study done in the first two steps points out that the constitution and the prescription of the DM discipline in the Computer Science undergraduate curriculum and in the SAD undergraduate technology curriculum are not only articulated to each other in terms of curriculum production, but they also happened in a contested territory around positions, purposes and speeches various originated from disputes and deals between groups of interest involved in defining what is this discipline and what means to be educated by it in front of the demands of a job market in constant expansion and a computational industry in expressive technological development. As of the third step, the results obtained point out that in the classroom there are DM curriculum production evidencing that the role of transforming intellectual exercised by the six interviewed professors, whose diversity of particular versions produced of the discipline demonstrates that its classroom production does not happen in a simple and direct relation between prescription and implementation, but it is conflited by intentions of acceptance and resistance, continuity and rupture with the proposal that is presented to them according to aspects related to its own prescribed curriculum, the professional knowledge and development, the relationship with the course coordination and colleagues, the students profile and the curricular goals valorized by them due to their teaching ideary and the ways by which they dealt with the contextual conditions that passed through the discipline implementation at the practice context of their SAD coursesDoutoradoEnsino de Ciencias e MatematicaDoutor em Ensino de Ciências e Matemátic

Teaching Discrete Structures: A systematic review of the literature

This survey paper reviews a large sample of publications on the teaching of discrete structures and discrete mathematics in computer science curricula. The approach is systematic, in that a structured search of electronic resources has been conducted, and the results are presented and quantitatively analysed. A number of broad themes in discrete structures education are identified relating to course content, teaching strategies and the means of evaluating the success of a course