Topics (6/03/23)
As Claudio Mirolo suggests in the document “Qual è la natura dell’informatica?”, understanding the discipline that you want to teach is essential to consider the epistemological and philosophical debate about its nature, in order to become more aware of the richness and articulation of our discipline.
Therefore, the first suggested reading is Mirolo’s text, which provides an overview of this debate. The document by Mirolo offers numerous ideas; we will focus on two of these documents, which are listed here:
- P.J. Denning, Is Computer Science Science?. Communication of the ACM 48(4):27–31 (2005)
- A. Eden,Three paradigms of Computer Science .Minds & Machines 17(2):135–167 (2007)
Domande
- What is the nature of computer science according to you?
- What distinguishes it (or does not distinguish it) from mathematics and engineering?
- How could understanding the nature of computer science influence your teaching?
If you have time, but it is not necessary for the lesson, I also suggest this document:
- T. Colborne and G. Shute. Abstraction in Computer Science. Minds & Machines 17(2):169–184 (2007)
Material for the future
A very long but interesting document containing ideas from researchers such as Aho, Ullman, Kleinberg, Papadimitriou, Sussman, and many others, contains the proceedings of a workshop on the nature of computer science:
- National Academy of Sciences,Computer Science: Reflections on the Field, Reflections from the Field,The National Academy Press,2004.
A document that I have not yet had the courage to face (938 pages, work in progress!) is the treatise on Philosophy of Computer Science by Rapaport:
- William J. Rapaport. Philosophy of Computer Science. 2004–2020.