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Teaching Formal Languages with Visualizations and Auto-Graded Exercises

Authors:

Mostafa Mohammed,

Clifford A. Shaffer,

Susan H. RodgerAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '21: Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Pages 569 - 575

https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432398

Published: 05 March 2021 Publication History

Abstract

The material taught in a Formal Languages and Automata (FLA) course is mathematical in nature and requires students to practice proofs and algorithms to understand the content. Traditional FLA textbooks are heavy on prose, and homework typically consists of solving many paper exercises. Instructors often make use of Finite State Machine simulators like the JFLAP package. JFLAP allows students to interactively build models and apply different algorithms to these models, providing both a more interactive and a more visual approach. However, course materials have still traditionally relied largely on prose and hand-graded exercises, limiting both the interaction and the amount of practice. In this paper, we propose an eTextbook with integrated tools (simulators and auto-graded exercises) that allow for greater interactivity and levels of engagement. To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of our approach, we conducted performance evaluations across different offerings of an FLA course. Results indicate that students using the integrated eTextbook performed better than did a control group using a traditional textbook approach. Students gave positive feedback regarding the usefulness of the auto-graded exercises for practicing different FLA concepts.

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Cited By

Koitz-Hristov RMandl FWotawa FStone JYuen TShoop LRebelsky SPrather J(2025)VisOpt - Visualization of Compiler Optimizations for Computer Science EducationProceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3641554.3701832(603-609)Online publication date: 12-Feb-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641554.3701832
Bunde DButler ZHovey CTaylor C(2024)CONVERSATIONS: Conversation with a Prominent Propagator: Susan H. RodgerACM Inroads10.1145/369972015:4(9-13)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699720
Dougherty RRandolph TChen TErickson JFerland MKomm DLiu JNg TPoulsen SSandu SShindler MTalmage EZeume TDorodchi MZhang MCooper S(2024)A Survey of Undergraduate Theory of Computing CurriculaProceedings of the 2024 on ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference V. 210.1145/3649409.3691070(281-282)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2024
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Index Terms

Teaching Formal Languages with Visualizations and Auto-Graded Exercises
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Student assessment
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software organization and properties
    1. Software system structures
      1. Software architectures
        Simulator / interpreter

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE '21: Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 2021

1454 pages

ISBN:9781450380621

DOI:10.1145/3408877

General Chairs:
Mark Sherriff
University of Virginia, USA
,
Laurence D. Merkle
Air Force Institute of Technology, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Pamela Cutter
Kalamazoo College, USA
,
Alvaro Monge
California State University, Long Beach, USA
,
Judithe Sheard
Monash University, Australia

Copyright © 2021 ACM.

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Published: 05 March 2021

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SIGCSE '21: The 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 13 - 20, 2021

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Cited By

Koitz-Hristov RMandl FWotawa FStone JYuen TShoop LRebelsky SPrather J(2025)VisOpt - Visualization of Compiler Optimizations for Computer Science EducationProceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3641554.3701832(603-609)Online publication date: 12-Feb-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641554.3701832
Bunde DButler ZHovey CTaylor C(2024)CONVERSATIONS: Conversation with a Prominent Propagator: Susan H. RodgerACM Inroads10.1145/369972015:4(9-13)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3699720
Dougherty RRandolph TChen TErickson JFerland MKomm DLiu JNg TPoulsen SSandu SShindler MTalmage EZeume TDorodchi MZhang MCooper S(2024)A Survey of Undergraduate Theory of Computing CurriculaProceedings of the 2024 on ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference V. 210.1145/3649409.3691070(281-282)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649409.3691070
Robson ERuggerio SErickson JMonga MLonati VBarendsen ESheard JPaterson J(2024)FSM Builder: A Tool for Writing Autograded Finite Automata QuestionsProceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3649217.3653599(269-275)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2024
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Abdelaziz NFarghally MMohammed MSoliman TDorodchi MZhange MCooper S(2024)An Interactive Visual Presentation of Core Database Design ConceptsProceedings of the 2024 on ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference V. 110.1145/3649165.3690103(5-11)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2024
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Mohammed MA. Shaffer CStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Teaching Formal Languages through Programmed InstructionProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630940(867-873)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
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Kumar AWalter AManolios P(2023)Automated Grading of Automata with ACL2sElectronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science10.4204/EPTCS.375.7375(77-91)Online publication date: 10-Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.4204/EPTCS.375.7
Biçer MAlbayrak FOrhan U(2023)Automatic Automata Grading System Using JFLAP2023 Innovations in Intelligent Systems and Applications Conference (ASYU)10.1109/ASYU58738.2023.10296744(1-4)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/ASYU58738.2023.10296744
Dengel AGehrlein R(2022)Comparing Teachers’ and Preservice Teachers’ Opinions on Teaching Methods in Computer Science EducationProceedings of the 17th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/3556787.3556866(1-4)Online publication date: 31-Oct-2022
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Farrugia-Roberts MJeffries BSøndergaard HBecker BQuille KLaakso MBarendsen ESimon (2022)Programming to LearnProceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Vol. 110.1145/3502718.3524814(311-317)Online publication date: 7-Jul-2022
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