Abstract
In Swiss high schools, programming is the typical content of an introductory informatics course. This is an important topic, but nevertheless it is only a part of the field. By integrating short introductions to other topics, students get a better understanding of the broadness of informatics.
This article presents such a short introduction unit about classical cryptology without requiring any school-related prior knowledge in informatics. The basis of this unit is the everlasting game between code designers and code breakers to build, respectively break, cryptosystems. The challenge of breaking the codes presented by the teacher is the core and motivating factor of our didactical concept. Although the theoretical concepts cannot be presented in detail, the unit demands analytical skills and encourages critical thinking.
The unit motivated 70% of the participating students to learn more about the topic, which is a good pre-condition for subsequent cryptology courses.
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Keller, L., Scheuner, B., Serafini, G., Steffen, B. (2011). A Short Introduction to Classical Cryptology as a Way to Motivate High School Students for Informatics. In: Kalaš, I., Mittermeir, R.T. (eds) Informatics in Schools. Contributing to 21st Century Education. ISSEP 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7013. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24722-4_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24722-4_17
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