Computer science students perceptions of learning formal reasoning methods

We outline the rationale, put forward by those concerned with software engineering, for adopting a formal methods approach to programming. An empirical study was undertaken with second and third year computer science undergraduates at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Students were invited to analyse retrospectively the difficulties which they perceived they encountered in learning formal reasoning methods. We present the results of the study and consider the pedagogical implications of students’ perceptions of formal reasoning methods as reflected in those results. We note the problem that can arise caused by the sometimes conflicting expectations of computer science students first encountering a formal reasoning approach to programming and those engaged in teaching the principles involved. We conclude by indicating the steps which we are currently taking in order to address the issue of mismatched expectations and to overcome the difficulties reported by those students interviewed.