Marco Cecchini & Simone Mucci | Algorithmic & Heuristic Approaches to Mathematics & AncientLanguages

Full paper title - Algorithmic and Heuristic Approaches to Mathematics and Ancient Languages: A Pedagogic Reflection
This paper was given as part of the seminar Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries: Researching Ancient Scientific Texts, held on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at the Center for Hellenic Studies.
For more information on the seminar: chs.harvard.ed...
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This interdisciplinary presentation will focus on two approaches to learning: the algorithmic and the heuristic. It will argue that learning often happens in either way: for this reason, it aims to reflect on how these approaches are actually employed to teach and learn mathematics and ancient languages. It will also argue that educational systems are often biased towards the algorithmic approach, which is viewed as detrimental to the heuristic one.
Marco Cecchini will discuss examples of mathematical problems that are very difficult to solve algorithmically, that become easy to solve with the correct heuristic. Numerous basic geometric formulas, for instance, can be easily derived heuristically without the need for memorization.
Simone Mucci will discuss the possibility of understanding algorithmically and heuristically the process of learning and translating ancient languages. His presentation will be focused on real examples of high-school students adopting algorithmic approaches to (try to) translate into modern languages passages from ancient Greek and Latin authors.
This paper aims to show that the problems discussed in the presentation are relevant for the teaching and learning of several disciplines.