At the end of the year, there is a gap between the AP Exam for AP Computer Science A and the last class meeting. Since students don't have to take a final after the AP Exam, there's not a lot of motivation for additional graded work. Nonetheless, I want to make the time meaningful, so my plan is to put together a short unit on Alan Turing, his contributions to CS, Turing Machines, Turing-completeness, the importance of the Halting Problem, the Turing Test, etc. Hopefully, I can integrate clips from The Imitation Game as well to increase engagement.The unit as a whole would last a little over a week and would be engaging (as something post-AP Exam in May has to be). This would be for a small class of students just having completed two years of AP Computer Science and very likely studying CS in college. Are there short lessons/units you have on Alan Turing that students respond well to? If you've taught some of the above concepts before (TMs, Halting Problem, Turing Test, etc.), what classroom resources do you have to explain them in a short, student-friendly manner?
Curriculum Design for a Unit on Alan Turing and His Impact on CS
lesson ideas;curriculum design;resource request;engagement;turing machines