Introduction to the papers and posters of TWG11: Algorithmics

In CERME12, our working group "Algorithmics" started its work as a newly established TWG. Since algorithms have always been at the heart of mathematics and their importance has been steadily increasing since the beginnings of theoretical computer science, the design and analysis of algorithms – called algorithmics (Traub 1964, Knuth 1985) – lies at the intersection of mathematics and computer science. For this reason, on the one hand, various algorithms and algorithmic activities have their traditional place in mathematics curricula at all levels. At the school level, mathematics and computer science have interacted since the 1980s, when many schools set up labs with computers equipped with programming software. On the other hand, many questions arise in the context of teaching and learning algorithms: a first, more applied group of questions aims at algorithms in mathematics education and curricula, a second, more theoretical group of questions seeks to clarify the concepts of algorithm and algorithmic thinking