Another approach for resisting student resistance to formal methods

Authors:
Daniel Zingaro
Affiliations:
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Venue:
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
Year:
2008

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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.