research-article

Theoretical Computer Science Education from Impossibility and Undecidability Problems in Physics

Author:

Rafael del Vado VírsedaAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1

Pages 270 - 276

https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569742

Published: 03 March 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Classroom examples of non-computable problems most often involve sets of Turing machines, which makes these problems too abstract and far divorced from real-world practice, so some students are turned off by the abstract nature of theoretical CS. In this paper, we explore the pedagogical connection of undecidability results in theoretical computing with similar (un)computability results in physics that have recently appeared. We argue that incorporating these new impossibility and undecidability results can increase students' interest in theoretical computing topics, as well as improve their understanding of the underlying science and mathematics.

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Cited By

del Vado Vírseda RStone JYuen TShoop LRebelsky SPrather J(2025)Introducing Theoretical Computer Science in High School Physics Courses from Impossibility and Undecidability ProblemsProceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3641555.3705207(1433-1434)Online publication date: 18-Feb-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641555.3705207

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1

March 2023

1481 pages

ISBN:9781450394314

DOI:10.1145/3545945

General Chairs:
Maureen Doyle
Northern Kentucky University, USA
,
Ben Stephenson
University of Calgary, Canada
,
Program Chairs:
Brian Dorn
University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA
,
Leen-Kiat Soh
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
,
Lina Battestilli
North Carolina State University, USA

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Published: 03 March 2023

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SIGCSE 2023: The 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 15 - 18, 2023

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del Vado Vírseda RStone JYuen TShoop LRebelsky SPrather J(2025)Introducing Theoretical Computer Science in High School Physics Courses from Impossibility and Undecidability ProblemsProceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3641555.3705207(1433-1434)Online publication date: 18-Feb-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641555.3705207

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