Theoretical Computer Science Education (TCSEd) in Scotland: Current Practices and Future Directions

This one-day workshop, TCSEd: Current Practices and Future Directions, aims to bring together theoretical computer science (TCS) educators from across Scottish universities to share their experiences, reflect on challenges, and discuss the future of TCS education. The workshop will feature short, contributed talks where participants will present their teaching experiences, highlighting specific challenges and innovations related to particular TCS topics or courses. This will provide a platform for educators to engage in practical discussions about how TCS is taught as well as how emerging technologies impact pedagogy.

This event is designed to facilitate reflection on both the breadth and depth of TCS topics offered across institutions, from introductory courses to advanced topics such as computational complexity theory, quantum computing, algorithmic game theory, model checking, programming language theory and semantics, to name a few.

A central theme of the workshop will be exploring how TCS can continue to serve as a foundational element of computer science education. A key aspect of this workshop is its connection to the SICSA research themes “Theory, Modelling and Computation” and “Scottish Programming Language Institute”, in which many TCS educators are also active researchers. By connecting this workshop with the research themes, we aim to foster a stronger link between the theoretical foundations taught in TCS courses and their practical applications in ensuring software robustness and reliability. Some TCS courses blend theoretical foundations with practical applications, often drawn from research, while others focus on purely foundational theory. For the latter, the challenge often lies in keeping students engaged and demonstrating relevance in light of emerging technologies like generative AI.

Registration links will be available soon.