About the "Algorithms and linguistics" project

Each year, we witness advances in computer science that affect other fields of science and technology, and lead to fundamental new discoveries, from deciphering the human genome to understanding the structure of the universe. Many people however still think of computer science as merely programming. We are developing materials that will help school students to understand the challenges, techniques, and possible careers in computer science. In particular, we believe that one way to learn about computational thinking is to solve fun problems and puzzles based on algorithms and related math principles. We also believe that more students will become interested in computer science if we tie it to problems in various fields outside the computer science itself, such as natural sciences, arts, sports, entertainment, and society.

We are currently developing materials focused on two areas of computer science: algorithms and computational linguistics. The initial goal is to create unplugged materials, that is, puzzles solvable with pencil and paper, which do not require programming. We also plan to produce short articles, illustrations, and video clips that will help students learn about algorithms and linguistics. We will provide this materials on-line and integrate related activities into the FLL robotic competitions. Specifically, we will offer puzzles and mini-contests during the dead time of the robotic competitions.

The project team comes from the organizing committee of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad. It is based on a contest that has originated in Russia, and it is now gaining ground in the United States and Canada due to the leadership of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Michigan. We will build upon the experience of the Computational Linguistics Olympiads and develop materials on the application of computer science to other fields.