Applying Cellular Automata in Teaching Differential and Integral Calculus in Computing Courses

• Oscar Kiyokazu Uehara UniSant'Anna
• Ismar Frango Silveira UNICSUL

Abstract

The courses on Math and Physics in CS undergraduate courses are strongly based over Differential and Integral Calculus. Differently from which occurs in Engineering-related courses, such courses are usually considered by students as excessively abstract and away from their professional reality. In order to contribute to solve such problem, this paper proposes the using of Cellular Automata to teach certain topics of Differential and Integral Calculus in CS undergraduate courses. As a proof of concept, a Java software prototype is shown, made to solve an application of Newton’s law of cooling.

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