Teaching Formal Languages through Programmed Instruction

The content in Formal Languages courses is mathematical in nature, and requires students to engage with proofs and algorithms to grasp core concepts. Conventional textbooks on Formal Languages predominantly employ textual explanations, with assignments often entailing manual problem solving. Some educators incorporate tools like JFLAP, which helps students construct models and apply algorithms to enhance interaction with the subject matter. However, students must put considerable effort into reading and solving problems manually to reach comprehension. Drawing inspiration from the Programmed Instruction (PI) teaching methodology, we have developed an innovative eTextbook for Formal Languages that facilitates better understanding of these ideas. The PI approach requires students to read a bit, ideally a sentence or paragraph, and then answer a question or complete an exercise related to that information. Depending on their response, students can progress to subsequent information frames or re-attempt the exercise. Our objective is to present the entirety of a Formal Languages curriculum through the PI approach. To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of our new eTextbook, we conducted a survey to ask students for their feedback on their experience with the Programmed Instruction etextbook. We also conducted performance evaluations on two offerings of the Formal Languages course. Students' grades are compared to assess learning gains between visualizations with exercises, and with PI frames. The evaluation shows that the Programmed Instruction ebook improved students' grades in almost all topics covered by the ebook.