A Turing tale

Daylight, Edgar G.

doi:10.1145/2629499

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Turing's machine model of computing was a signal achievement in mathematical logic. It soon became a cornerstone of the theory of computing and a rallying point for a new kind of computational thinking (Daylight, 2014(Daylight, , 2016. It led to the theory of noncomputable functions and to algorithmic complexity theory.…”

Section: Algorithmic Genealogymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective

Denning¹,

Tedre²

2021

Informatics in Education

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Over its short disciplinary history, computing has seen a stunning number of descriptions of the field's characteristic ways of thinking and practicing, under a large number of different labels. One of the more recent variants, notably in the context of K-12 education, is "computational thinking", which became popular in the early 2000s, and which has given rise to many competing views of the essential character of CT. This article analyzes CT from the perspective of computing's disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing, as expressed in writings of computing's pioneers. The article describes six windows into CT from a computing perspective: its intellectual origins and justification, its aims, and the central concepts, techniques, and ways of thinking in CT that arise from those different origins. The article also presents a way of analyzing CT over different dimensions, such as in terms of breadth vs. depth, specialization vs. generalization, and in terms of skill progression from beginner to expert. Those different views have different aims, theoretical references, conceptual frameworks, and origin stories, and they justify their intellectual essence in different ways.

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Section: Algorithmic Genealogymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective

Denning¹,

Tedre²

2021

Informatics in Education

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“…This was clear, for instance, in the wake of the Turing centenary in 2012, a celebration of Alan M. Turing, which reinforced the image that computing is based on logical insights, with misinformed claims that Turing invented the modern computer. Several historical pieces in the U.S. flagship magazine for computer science, Communications of the ACM, corrected these claims by showing that they misrepresented the more complex historical reality, and that these views are mostly a side effect of a discipline's need for heroes [5], [6], [13]. 4…”

Section: Computer Science Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Logic, Programming, and Computer Science: Local Perspectives

Mol

2021

IEEE Annals Hist. Comput.

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“…Pioneering theoretical research was carried out in fields such as complexity theory, information theory, and formal semantics (Mahoney, 2011). Through the 1950s Turing's work gained increasing recognition and connection with the computing discipline (Daylight, 2014(Daylight, , 2016, but the disciplinary identity of computing and its proper administrative location in the university structure remained unclear (Aspray, 2000). Mathematics and science were highly regarded in traditional research universities, but technical topics, as computing was considered by many universities, were not always seen so favorably.…”

Section: Training For Technical Jobsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing aims of computing education: a historical survey

Tedre

Simón

Malmi

2018

Computer Science Education

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Computing education has been an important and sometimes contentious issue ever since the advent of modern computing. Debates about computing education have closely followed job markets, technological development, academic interests, societal concerns, and changes in the perception of computing. The themes in computing education debates can be characterized by emergence and formation, standardization and organization, accommodation to change, and divergence. The focus of computing education has expanded outward from the computer to programming, algorithms, and information, as well as to the organizational, social, and cultural environment of computer systems. This survey gives computing education researchers an overview of some of the central issues and disputes in computing education over the brief history of modern computing. The survey highlights the emergence of educational initiatives, concepts, joint efforts, and institutions of computing education, and outlines the relatively short history of computing education research. The survey is structured around four overlapping themes: computing education as technological training, as training for software development, as a central element for the field's academic recognition, and as training for computational problem-solving in any domain of knowledge. Each theme has played a role throughout the history of modern computing, but their relative emphases have changed over the years.

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A Turing tale

Abstract: Assessing the accuracy of popular descriptions of Alan Turing's influences and legacy.

Cited by 12 publications

References 7 publications

Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective

Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective

Logic, Programming, and Computer Science: Local Perspectives

Changing aims of computing education: a historical survey

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