Exploring Error Types in Formal Languages Among Students of Upper Secondary Education

Abstract: Foundations of formal languages, as subfield of theoretical computer science, are part of typical upper secondary education curricula. There is very little research on the potential difficulties that students at this level have with this subject. In this paper, we report on an exploratory study of errors in formal languages among upper secondary education students. We collect the data by posing exercises in an intelligent tutoring system and analyzing student input. Our results suggest a) instances of non-functional understanding of concepts such as the empty word or a grammar as a substitution system; b) strategic problems such as lack of foresight when deriving a word or confounding formal specifications with real-world knowledge on certain aspects; and c) various syntactic problems. These findings can serve as a starting point for a broader understanding of how and why students struggle with this topic.