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To Be Or Not To Be . . . An Algorithm: The Notion According to Students and Teachers

Authors:

Carlo Bellettini,

Violetta Lonati,

Anna MorpurgoAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE 2024: Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1

Pages 102 - 108

https://doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630950

Published: 07 March 2024 Publication History

Abstract

We study how students and teachers conceptualize the notion of 'algorithm', a fundamental concept in computer science and computer science curricula. We analyze the work produced by CS students and teachers during a workshop conducted repeatedly over several years in some outreach activities for schools, computing education courses, and professional development opportunities for teachers. Participants were divided into groups, given some procedures written in natural language, and asked to decide together which of the procedures might be taken as algorithms. The procedures were purposely designed to present flaws or features that could activate discussion. After that, groups were asked to agree upon a definition of 'algorithm' and make its fundamental properties explicit. The activity triggered reflections around the idea of algorithm and its interpreter, going beyond stereotyped definitions, and leading participants to deepen their comprehension of the notion. We report on the aspects that were more debated by the groups, and those that were recurrent in the resulting definitions. We argue that this kind of activities should be offered more often both to students during their study career, and to teachers in professional development opportunities, to prompt them to reflect on computing foundations also in a non-technical, more holistic way.

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Cited By

Höper LSchulte C(2024)New Perspectives on the Future of Computing Education: Teaching and Learning Explanatory ModelsProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699558(1-8)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699538.3699558

Index Terms

To Be Or Not To Be . . . An Algorithm: The Notion According to Students and Teachers
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE 2024: Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1

March 2024

1583 pages

ISBN:9798400704239

DOI:10.1145/3626252

General Chairs:
Ben Stephenson
University of Calgary, Canada6000230660002306
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Jeffrey A. Stone
Penn State University6000143960001439
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Program Chairs:
Lina Battestilli
North Carolina State University, USA6000492360004923
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Samuel A. Rebelsky
Grinnell College60028806
,
Libby Shoop
Macalester College60028787

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Published: 07 March 2024

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Cited By

Höper LSchulte C(2024)New Perspectives on the Future of Computing Education: Teaching and Learning Explanatory ModelsProceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research10.1145/3699538.3699558(1-8)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699538.3699558

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