Teaching with Combinatorica and Semantica

石溪大学的计算机科学和语言学系由于一个共同的情况而走到了一起。目前，这两个系正在进行本科生的科学和数学项目，这些项目涉及创建和开发创新的教育软件和课程，该项目强调计算机科学和语言学的实验性质。它建立在由Steven Skiena开发的PI Combinatorica开发的软件之上，已成为用于研究和教育的最广泛使用的组合计算环境。该系统是在数学中实现的，包括230多个组合学和图论功能。1991年，Combinatorica获得EDUCOM高等教育软件杰出数学软件奖，并已在全球200多所教育机构使用。Semantica是一本语言语义学的交互式工作簿，目前正在由Richard K.Larson(Dep.和David S.Warren(Dep.计算机科学)，由国家科学基金会的课程和课程开发计划提供为期三年的资助。基于Prolog计算引擎，并拥有广泛的视觉和自然语言支持，Semantica将成为语言语义学本科课程的基础。让学生使用像Combinatorica这样的工具有助于将计算机科学视为一门实验学科。通过观察组合爆炸等现象，认为ı学生！…听到课堂上的讨论，他们会对理论是如何从实践中产生的有更深的理解。使用句法，学生将能够直接创建、观察和实验规范语言表达形式的规则。规则系统的交互、动手操作将有力地加强语言学事业的实验性，以及其结果的科学性。

The Computer Science and Linguistics departments at Stony Brook have been drawn together by a common situation. At present, both departments are pursuing undergraduate science and mathematics projects that involve the creation and development of innovative educational software and curricula.The project emphasizes the experimental nature of computer science and linguistics. It builds on the software developed by the PIs Combinatorica, developed by Steven Skiena, has become the most widely used combinatorial computing environment for research and education. The system is implemented in Mathematica, and comprises over 230 functions for combinatorics and graph theory. In 1991, Combinatorica received an EDUCOM Higher Education Software Award for Distinguished Mathematics Software, and has been used at over 200 educational institutions around the world. Semantica is an interactive workbook for linguistic semantics currently under development by Richard K. Larson (Dept. of Linguistics) and David S. Warren (Dept. of Computer Science), through a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation's Course and Curriculum Development program. Based on a Prolog computing engine, and with extensive visual and natural language support, Semantica will form the basis of an undergraduate course in linguistic semantics.Exposing students to a tool like Combinatorica encourages viewing computer science as an experimental discipline. By observing phenomenon, such as combinatorial explosion, that ıstudents! ... hear discussed in class, they will gain a deeper appreciation for how the theory arises from practice. Using Syntactica, students will be able to directly create, observe and experiment with the formal rules governing well-formedness of linguistic expressions. The interactive, hands-on manipulation of rule systems will strongly reinforce the experimental nature of the linguistics enterprise, and the scientific chanracter of its results.