Recognition vs Reverse Engineering in Boolean Concepts Learning

This paper deals with two types of logical problems--recognition problems and reverse engineering problems, and with the interrelations between these types of problems. The recognition problems are modeled in the form of a visual representation of various objects in a common pattern, with a composition of represented objects in the pattern. Solving the recognition problem may therefore be understood as recognizing a visually-represented Boolean concept, with further formulation of the concept. The recognition problems can be perceived as a parallel process, so the recognition problems are considered a parallel type. Alternatively, solving a reverse engineering problem means reconstructing a Boolean function/concept implemented within a given "black box." Since such a reconstruction is typically performed sequentially, step by step, this type of problem can be considered a sequential type. We study the above two types of problems for the same set of Boolean concepts and compare the corresponding solutions obtained by a group of students. The paper presents results of experiments that study how the complexity of Boolean concepts affects the students' success in solving parallel and the sequential type problems respectively. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.) [For the complete proceedings, "Proceedings of the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA) (Madrid, Spain, October 19-21, 2012)," see ED542606.]