Visualization Tools for CS Theory: an Initial Literature Review (SIGCSE TS 2026 - Posters)

Who

Ian Campbell, Anthony Notaro, Ryan Dougherty

Track

SIGCSE TS 2026 Posters

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When

Fri 20 Feb 2026 10:00 - 12:00 at Hall 1 - Posters - Posters Session #2

Abstract

Learning formal concepts in Theory of Computation (ToC) can be challenging for students, and visualization tools can assist in comprehension of ToC concepts. We present a literature review of visualization tools developed for teaching ToC topics, including automata theory, computability theory, and complexity theory. Using a comprehensive search strategy across major libraries, we identified 47 primary studies from 1988–2025 that met our inclusion criteria. We found that the majority of tools target automata (especially finite automata), while relatively fewer tools address proof techniques and complexity topics, though interest in these areas has recently grown. We observed two periods of heightened development of ToC visualization tools: an initial wave around the late 1990s to mid-2000s, and a resurgence in the early 2020s with more interactive and web-based tools.

Ian Campbell

United States Military Academy

United States

Anthony Notaro

United States Military Academy

United States

Ryan Dougherty

United States Military Academy

United States

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Session Program

Fri 20 Feb
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10:00 - 12:00	Posters Session #2Posters at Hall 1 - Posters

10:00 2h Talk		Examining Students’ Code Comprehension with LLMs in Block- and Text-Based Programming Posters Shan Zhang University of Florida, Toni Earle-Randell University of Florida, Priyadharshini Ganapathy Prasad University of Florida, Zifeng Liu University of Florida, Yang Shi Utah State University, Suma Pallathadka Bhat Princeton University, Maya Israel University of Florida, Anthony F. Botelho Univeristy of Florida
10:00 2h Talk		A Rubric for Equitable Grading Practices Posters Anika Sikka UC Berkeley, Heidy Hernandez UC Berkeley, Shreya Mantipragada UC Berkeley, Aananya Lakhani UC Berkeley, Dan Garcia UC Berkeley
10:00 2h Talk		CS Student Perspectives: A Qualitative Look at Student-Centered Classroom Practices in Small and Large Classrooms Posters Debarati Basu Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Nadia Najjar University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Liam Custer University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Tess G. Hagstrom Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
10:00 2h Talk		A Taste of Formal Methods for Computer Science Students using Jupyter Notebooks Posters Zack Fitzsimmons College of the Holy Cross, Zohair Raza Hassan Rochester Institute of Technology, Edith Hemaspaandra Rochester Institute of Technology, Carlos R. Rivero Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
10:00 2h Talk		Fostering Accessible Design Skills with AI-Agents and Experiential Learning in Software Engineering Education Posters Farzana Rahman Syracuse University, Daniel Krutz Rochester Institute of Technology
10:00 2h Talk		Boundary Crossing and Collaboration: Reconciling the Academia and Industry Gap in Computing Internships through Mentorship Posters Nimmi Arunachalam Florida International University, Stephanie Lunn Florida International University, Giri Narasimhan Florida International University, Jason Liu Florida International University, Mark Weiss Florida International University
10:00 2h Talk		From Confidence to Doubt: A Multi-year Analysis of Students’ Problem-Solving Attitudes in a CS2 Course Posters Zhikai Gao Western Carolina University, Matthew Zahn North Carolina State University, Collin Lynch North Carolina State University, Sarah Heckman North Carolina State University
10:00 2h Talk		Late Test Takers Do Worse On Exams Posters Kelly Downey UC Riverside, Paea LePendu pc
10:00 2h Talk		Automated Program Repair of Uncompilable Student Code Posters Griffin Pitts North Carolina State University, Aum Pandya North Carolina State University, Darsh Rank North Carolina State University, Muntasir Hoq North Carolina State University, Tirth Bhatt North Carolina State University, Bita Akram North Carolina State University
10:00 2h Talk		The Hidden Curriculum of Faculty Careers in Computing Posters Shomir Wilson Pennsylvania State University
10:00 2h Talk		Assessing the Effectiveness of Selective Marketing to Broaden Participation in CS Education Posters Aditya Shah University of Washington, Tyler Menezes CodeDay
10:00 2h Talk		Bridging Hardware Barriers in Operating Systems Education through Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure Posters Peng Kang California State University, Sacramento, Palden Lama The University of Texas at San Antonio
10:00 2h Talk		Evaluating LLaMA LLMs and Prompt Engineering for Educational Applications Posters Dhriti Ramesh Colorado School of Mines
10:00 2h Talk		An Instructor Dashboard to Support Mastery Learning Posters Shreya Mantipragada UC Berkeley, Eldar Hasanov UC Berkeley, Adam Hacker UC Berkeley, Weishu Zhang UC Berkeley, Samuel Hilkey UC Berkeley, Juan Ponce de Leon UC Berkeley, Dan Garcia UC Berkeley
10:00 2h Talk		CSTutorBench: Benchmarking Large Language Models for Realistic Computer Science TutoringGlobal Posters Zekai Cheng University of New South Wales, Yunfeng Wan UNSW, Daijiao Liu University of New South Wales, Yuekang Li UNSW, Yuchao Jiang UNSW, Dong Gong University of New South Wales
10:00 2h Talk		Iris: A Content Management System Supporting Typography and Accessibility Posters Wong Zhao University of California, Santa Barbara, Maryam Majedi pc
10:00 2h Talk		PlayFutures: Imagining Civic Futures with AI and Puppets Posters Supratim Pait Digital Media, Georgia Institute of Technology, Sumita Sharma INTERACT Research Unit, University of Oulu, Ashley Frith Georgia Institute of Technology, Michael Nitsche Digital Media, Georgia Institute of Technology, Noura Howell Digital Media, Georgia Institute of Technology
10:00 2h Talk		Interactive Tools for Middle School Students AI LiteracyK12 Posters Saniya Vahedian Movahed University of Texas at San Antonio, Ian Thacker University of Texas at San Antonio
10:00 2h Talk		DiverseClaire: Simulating Students to Improve Introductory Programming Course Materials for All CS1 LearnersGlobal Posters Wendy Wong University of New South Wales, Yuchao Jiang UNSW, Yuekang Li UNSW Link to publication DOI Pre-print
10:00 2h Talk		Programming Success: How External Encouragement Shapes Confidence in Tech and Coding Posters Yasaswini Bommareddy University of Maryland- College Park
10:00 2h Talk		An Interactive Generative AI Tool to Help Teachers Contextually Customize Scratch Projects Posters Minh Tran University of Chicago, David Gonzalez-Maldonado University of Chicago, Diana Franklin University of Chicago
10:00 2h Talk		Strategies for Implementing Challenge-Based Learning in Short Courses: Developing Professional Skills Through ChallengesGlobal Posters Jessica Lucchetta University of Trento, Stefano Turrini University of Trento, Maurizio Marchese University of Trento, Lorenzo Angeli University of Trento
10:00 2h Talk		Defining Gaps in Student Affect Research for Computer Science Posters Julie Smith Institute for Advancing Computing Education, Monica McGill Institute for Advancing Computing Education, Precious Eze Institute for Advancing Computing Education, Charity Odetola Institute for Advancing Computing Education
10:00 2h Talk		Show or Tell? Piloting an AI Feedback Tool for Data Story Reading in Introductory Data Science Posters Lujie Karen Chen University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Supakit Boonsongprasert University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Sachin Pathak University of Maryland, Baltimore County
10:00 2h Talk		Teach2Learn: Assessing the Learning among CS1 Students on How Well They Can Teach LLM-Simulated Students Posters Aizen Baidya University of California, Merced, Ayush Pandey University of California, Merced
10:00 2h Talk		Bridging the Experience Gap: An Informed Self-Placement Approach to Introductory Programming Posters Gul e Fatima Kiani University of Nebraska at Omaha, Brian Dorn University of Nebraska at Omaha
10:00 2h Talk		A TA Training Lesson for Problem-Solving: How to Explain A Solution and Meet Students Where They Are Posters Katherine Braught University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carl Evans University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Blake Johnson University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Yael Gertner University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
10:00 2h Talk		Introduction to Concurrent Programming in C: An Open Course Book With Program VisualizationsGlobal Posters Filip Strömbäck Linköping University
10:00 2h Talk		A Statewide Analysis of Ethics and Social Impact in the CS Teacher Preparation PipelineK12 Posters Brendan Henrique University of California, Berkeley, Kyle Fischer University of California, Berkeley
10:00 2h Talk		Is Solving Better Than Evaluating GenAI Solutions? Posters Ethan Dickey Purdue University, Marios Mertzanidis Purdue University, Alexandros Psomas Purdue University
10:00 2h Talk		Implications of Large Language Models in Database Management System Course Posters Sirazum Munira Tisha Rollins College
10:00 2h Talk		Promoting Quantum-based Machine Learning through Multifaceted Activities Posters Yong Shi Kennesaw State University, Dan Lo Kennesaw State University, Valentina Nino Kennesaw State University, Hongmei Chi Florida A&M University, Kun Suo Kennesaw State University, Tu Nguyen Kennesaw State University
10:00 2h Talk		Instructors’ Perspectives on LLM-Generated Programming Formative Feedback Posters Rose Niousha University of California, Berkeley, Samantha Boatright Smith University of California, Berkeley, Abby O'Neill University of California, Berkeley, J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira University of California, Berkeley, John DeNero University of California, Berkeley, Narges Norouzi University of California, Berkeley
10:00 2h Talk		Applications of Large Language Models to SQL Learning Posters Adwaith Chittavally Dugge Gowda Arizona State University, Jaykumar Tandel Arizona State University, Sharvari Rajiv Joshi Arizona State University, Jia Zou Arizona State University
10:00 2h Talk		Visualization Tools for CS Theory: an Initial Literature Review Posters Ian Campbell United States Military Academy, Anthony Notaro United States Military Academy, Ryan Dougherty United States Military Academy
10:00 2h Poster		Evaluating the Impact of Active Learning Modes (iClickers vs. Worksheets) on Student Engagement in a CS2 Course Posters Han L. G. Dang University of Illinois Chicago, Levell S. Kensey University of Illinois Chicago, Scott Reckinger University of Illinois Chicago, Mark Hodges pc
10:00 2h Talk		Blended Student Exchange Between the USA and EU: A Practical Approach to CS Education and Physical Computing Posters Nico Hillah Karlsruhe University of Education, Marcelo Sztainberg Northeastern Illinois University, Frauke Ritter German International School of Silicon Valley, Manar Mohaisen Northeastern Illinois University, Bernhard Standl Karlsruhe University of Education
10:00 2h Talk		A Two-Stage LLM Pipeline for Handwritten Mathematics Autograding Posters Jacob Levine University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Matthew West University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Mariana Silva University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
10:00 2h Talk		Learning-Centered Intelligent Tutor for Novice Java Programmers Posters Lu-Hung Su The Ohio State University, Yang Gao The Ohio State University, Jeremy Morris The Ohio State University, Zahra Atiq The Ohio State University
10:00 2h Talk		Integrating Large Language Models with Cybersecurity Education Posters Wei Yan Northern Arizona University, Soumiki Chattopadhyay Northern Arizona University, Lan Zhang Northern Arizona University, Ashish Amresh Northern Arizona University
10:00 2h Talk		Automating Code Quality Feedback in an Introductory Undergraduate Computer Science Course Posters Tobjorn Nelson California Institute of Technology, Adam Blank Caltech
10:00 2h Talk		Leveraging Computational Thinking in Content-Aligned and Heritage-Connected Project-Based LearningK12 Posters Merijke Coenraad Digital Promise, Emi Iwatani Digital Promise
10:00 2h Talk		TrackIt: An Interactive Rule-Based Tool for Detecting Struggling Programming Students Posters Friday James pc, Joshua Weese Kansas State University, Nathan H. Bean Kansas State University, Russell Feldhausen Kansas State University, David Allen Kansas State University, Michelle Friend University of Nebraska Omaha
10:00 2h Talk		Learning AI Ethics with EvolveMoralMaze: An Analysis of Student Outcomes and Misconceptions Posters Priyanka Kumar The University of Texas Permian Basin, Panhapiseth Lim The University of Texas Permian Basin, Pragathi Durga Rajarajan University of Texas at San Antonio, Phillip Driscoll The University of Texas Permian Basin
10:00 2h Talk		Unpacking Blocks in Domain-Specific Modeling Environments to Support Science and Computing Learning Global Posters Adelmo Eloy University of Sao Paulo (USP), Aditi Wagh MIT, Tamar Fuhrmann Teachers College, Columbia University, Roseli de Deus Lopes University of São Paulo, Paulo Blikstein Columbia University, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico,
10:00 2h Talk		Bridging Classroom and Industry: Student Perspectives on the Impact of CS Coursework on Internship Readiness Posters Victoria Hong St Joseph's University - New York, Eleni Zamagias St. Joseph's University
10:00 2h Talk		Exploring the Use of LLMs for Assessing Creativity in Student Programming Artifacts Posters Zifeng Liu University of Florida, Yihan Jiang University of Florida, Wanli Xing University of Florida
10:00 2h Talk		On the Efficacy of Using Large Language Models for Automatic Grading of CS Theory Problems Posters Nikolas Dykstra United States Military Academy, Reid Wesley United States Military Academy, Ryan Dougherty United States Military Academy