Abstract
Algorithmic problem solving is a way of approaching and solving problems by using the advances that have been made in the principles of correct-by-construction algorithm design. The approach has been taught at first-year undergraduate level since September 2003 and, since then, a substantial amount of learning materials have been developed. However, the existing materials are distributed in a conventional and static way (e.g. as a textbook and as several documents in PDF format available online), not leveraging the capabilities provided by modern collaborative and open-source platforms.
In this paper, we propose the creation of an online, open-source repository of interactive learning materials on algorithmic problem solving. We show how the existing framework Mathigon can be used to support such a repository. By being open and hosted on a platform such as GitHub, the repository enables collaboration and anyone can create and submit new material. Furthermore, by making the material interactive, we hope to encourage engagement with and a better understanding of the materials.
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Notes
- 1.
Mathigon’s website: https://mathigon.org (accessed 18 July 2019).
- 2.
Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_crossing_puzzle (accessed 18 July 2019).
- 3.
The restatement of the problem and the subsequent two paragraphs are extracted from [1].
- 4.
The implementation of the puzzle that we used was created by Victor Ribeiro (https://github.com/victorqribeiro/bridge).
- 5.
See the repository textbooks (folder content/river-crossing) in https://github.com/algprobsolving.
- 6.
MyScript webpage: https://www.myscript.com.
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Acknowledgments
This work is partially financed by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the project: UID/EEA/50014/2019.
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Ferreira, J.F., Mendes, A. (2020). Open and Interactive Learning Resources for Algorithmic Problem Solving. In: Sekerinski, E., et al. Formal Methods. FM 2019 International Workshops. FM 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12233. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54997-8_13
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