An Interactive Approach to Formal Languages and Automata with JFLAP

几乎所有的形式语言和自动机（FLA）教科书都以形式化的方式呈现理论材料，很少有可视化和没有反馈。本项目旨在开发一种创新的FLA教学方法，使用JFLAP教学软件工具在学习形式理论的同时探索抽象概念。它还通过一项广泛的研究来评估JFLAP的有效性。目的是表明学生在使用JFLAP时，除了形式理论外，对FLA有了更好更深入的理解。智力优势：本提案中开发的材料提供了一种交互式的、基于发现的学习方法。学生可以收到问题的即时反馈，并解决难以用铅笔和纸做的问题。更广泛的影响：该项目与11个机构合作，其中4个是少数民族非博士学位授予机构。它的方法给学生一个更实际的方法来学习这些理论材料。JFLAP让教师通过解决类似的问题，如测试、调试和运行时分析，将更具理论性的FLA课程与其他计算机科学课程联系起来。传播内容包括增强版软件、JFLAP用户手册、实用教科书、在线教师指南、论文和四场教师研讨会。

Computer Science (31)Almost all Formal Languages and Automata (FLA) textbooks present theoretical material in a formal manner with little visualization and no feedback. This project is developing an innovative way of teaching FLA that uses the JFLAP instructional software tool to explore abstract concepts while learning the formal theory. It is also evaluating JFLAP's effectiveness through an extensive study. The goal is to show that when using JFLAP in addition to the formal theory, students gain a better and deeper understanding of FLA.Intellectual Merit:The material developed in this proposal is providing an interactive, discovery-based approach to learning. Students can receive immediate feedback on problems, and solve types of problems that are difficult to do with pencil and paper.Broader Impacts:This project is working with 11 institutions, four of which are minority non-PhD granting institutions. Its approach gives students a more hands-on approach to learning this theoretical material. JFLAP lets faculty relate the more theoretical FLA course to other computer science courses by addressing similar issues such as testing, debugging, and run time analysis. Dissemination includes enhanced software, a JFLAP user manual, a hands-on textbook, an online teacher's guide, papers, and four faculty workshops at conferences.