Abstract:

Background: Computer science education for kids has received considerable attention in recent years. In fact, many visual languages for kids has recently developed, such as ScratchJr. Although computer science has a wide range of sub-fields, we assume that it consists of the following three basic fields: computational science, such as programming, informational science, such as digitization, and artificial intelligence, such as machine learning. This is because our university offers computer science education for first-year students based on the assumption.

Motivation: From this assumption, the recent attention mainly focuses on topics in computational science, but not those in information science, which is one of the fundamental theory of computer science.

Goal: In this paper, the author shares experiences of the lessons on part of informational science for students from elementary school to university. These lessons not at the university were provided at events in our open campus or science fairs.

Fourier Transform: One big feature of the lessons is that they are based on the Fourier transform. From mathematical perspective, the Fourier transform decomposes a function into simpler trigonometric functions. Equally, the stimulus is represented as the superposition of infinitely many sinusoids, that is the superposition principle of physics. In general, the Fourier transform is learned by university students in many departments in faculties of science, engineering, and computer science, since it is necessary for students to understand various mathematical notions, such as trigonometric functions, infinite sequences, and integral calculus. Therefore, it is too difficult for young kids to learn the Fourier transform.

Merits: Despite of the difficulty of the Fourier transform, the author strongly believe that it can provide different perspectives of information theory, depending on knowledge students already have. For example, we can see that the DC component of the Fourier transform is the average of an input signal and the other components the other averages for different granularities. Thus, to understand this idea, it is only required to know the notion of the average, which is taught at elementary schools. As target students become older, we can add difficult parts from the Fourier transform to lessons.

Hands-on Experience: Like computer science unplugged, these lessons are designed to put students through hands-on experiences with many materials, including a JavaScript application with HTML5 and CSS technologies. You can access it via "http://bit.ly/2AhTwq3" from a browser of PCs, tablets, and smart phones, where its size is designed to fit iPad. Using this application, students can learn essences of the Fourier transform, where a shape of building blocks is given at "Source", four components after the transformation are shown at "4 Basic Blocks" by clicking "Calculate!" button, and a superposed shape of checked components is shown at "Received" by "Composition" button. The more components we check, the closer to the source shape the received one is.

Keywords:

Information Theory, Fourier Transform, JavaScript Application, Hands-on Experience.