The challenge of problem-based learning

We extend Cyclone, a type-safe polymorphic language at the C level of abstraction, with threads and locks. Data races can violate type safety in Cyclone. An extended type system statically guarantees their absence by enforcing that thread-shared data is protected via locking and that thread-local data does not escape the thread that creates it. The extensions interact smoothly with parametric polymorphism and region-based memory management. We present a formal abstract machine that models the need to prevent races, a polymorphic type system for the machine that supports thread-local data, and a corresponding type-safety result.

/pdf/type-safe-multithreading-in-cyclone-27iosplnis.pdf

Type-safe multithreading in cyclone

Mastery of basic syntactic and logical constructs is an essential part of learning to program. Unfortunately, practice exercises for programming basics can be very tedious, making it difficult to motivate students. In this paper we describe Parson's Programming Puzzles, an automated, interactive tool that provides practice with basic programming principles in an entertaining puzzle-like format. Careful design of the items in the puzzles allows the tutor to highlight particular topics and common programming errors. Since each puzzle solution is a complete sample of well-written code, use of the tool exposes students to good programming practice. This paper discusses the motivation of Parson's Programming Puzzles, and gives several examples. We describe the web-based authoring tool used to build the puzzles, and present our plans for future development.

Parson's programming puzzles: a fun and effective learning tool for first programming courses

Computer Science (CS) is a relatively new disciple and how best to introduce it to new students remains an open question. Likewise, the identification of appropriate instructional strategies for the diverse topics that constitute the average curriculum remains open to debate. One approach considered by a number of practitioners in CS education involves Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a radical departure from the conventional lecturing format. PBL has been adopted in other domains with success, but whether these positive experiences will be replicated in CS remains to be seen. In this article, a systematic review of PBL initiatives in undergraduate and postgraduate CS is presented from a Computing Education Research (CER) perspective. This includes analyses of a range of practical didactic issues, including the degree to which PBL has been systematically evaluated, practical problem description in the literature, as well as a survey of topics for which a PBL approach has been adopted.

/pdf/practical-problem-based-learning-in-computing-education-37olpmcei5.pdf

Practical Problem-Based Learning in Computing Education

In the period 1986–1991, experiments have been carried out with an introductory course in computer programming, based on functional programming. Due to thorough educational design and evaluation, a successful course has been developed. This has led to a revision of the computer programming education in the first year of the computer science curriculum at the University of Twente.This article describes the approach, the aim of the computer programming course, the outline and subject matter of the course, and the evaluation. Educational research has been done to assess the quality of the course.

Teaching functional programming to first-year students

Over the years there has been an ongoing debate about which computer language to adopt for a first programming subject. Although some may not agree, the current consensus is that the object-oriented languages are winning the argument, and Java has increasingly become the language of choice for teaching beginners. But choosing the language is only the first step in designing a first programming subject. The adoption of an object-oriented language such as Java offers an opportunity to completely rethink our approach to teaching first-year programming, an opportunity that should not be missed. In this paper we identify what we see as the non language-specific core issues, and discuss how we approached these issues when designing and teaching a programming subject for beginners.

Teaching programming to beginners - choosing the language is just the first step

This paper compares the mechanisms for process communication, synchronisation and non-determinism in recent language proposals by Hoare and Brinch Hansen, by both qualitative and quantitative analyses. A significant variation in effectiveness with program class is shown.

/pdf/a-comparison-of-two-notations-for-process-communication-1vyt0sz1ya.pdf

A Comparison of Two Notations for Process Communication

Perception of Software Engineering as a multi-disciplinary profession like established branches of engineering justifies its treatment in a specialised bachelor's degree. Identification of the essence of professional engineering education in general, and the instantiation of this essence with the particular content requirements of SE, provide precise SEE design criteria. The critical role of the introductory Programming course in establishing the importance of correct SE methods dictates the adoption of functional programming for its purposes. Necessary resources for teaching functional programming to introductory classes are either available or easily accessible. The curriculum overall builds upon this foundation, avoiding mistakes in existing CS curricula, providing quality academic education with the extensive practical and integrative work required for professional preparation.

A Proposal for a Bachelor's Degree Program in Software Bngineering

The impact of declarative (functional) programming is inhibited by the need to learn/use new languages. A series of language extensions implemented by preprocessing, which integrates functional programming into the Ada culture, is described. Features include lazy streams, recursive data structures, the abolition of assignment and its replacement by data-flow control constructs.

DAda—an Ada preprocessor for functional programming

A proposal for a genuinely-lazy streams facility for Ada

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