Another approach for resisting student resistance to formal methods

Abstract

Students are generally not motivated to take formal methods courses or continue studying the subject. This note introduces an approach based on a new textbook designed to be used in the first year of a computer science curriculum. The essential features are the use of relevant programming tools, early coupling of specification and implementation, informal but "generative" reasoning, and material from several problem areas. The hope is that we can lay a strong foundation for future formal methods courses to build on, while remaining accessible to the wide variety of students taking such an introductory course.

Learning difficulties experienced by students in a course on formal languages and automata theory

“…Furthermore, a number of visualization tools ( [2], [4], [8]) such as JFLAP [7] and Thoth [5] to help students visualize the different concepts have been developed. Some studies have examined how programming can be used to motivate students ( [9], [10]). Devedzic et al [3] and Pillay et al [6] suggest the use of intelligent tutoring systems as a means of assisting students learn FLAT concepts.…”