Workshop Goals

Formal methods (FM) have an important role to play in the development of complex computing systems - a role acknowledged in industrial standards such as IEC 61508 and ISO/IEC 15408, and in the increasing use of precise modeling notations, semantic markup languages, and model-driven techniques.

There is a growing need for software engineers who can work effectively with simple, mathematical abstractions, and with practical notions of inference and proof. However, there is little clear guidance - for educators, for managers, or for the engineers themselves - as to what might comprise a basic education in FM. The present IEEE/ACM SWEBOK (Software Engineering Body of Knowledge), in particular, lacks the kind of specific information that teachers and practitioners need to establish an adequate, balanced programme of learning in FM.

This workshop will provide a forum for the discussion of the key issues in formal methods education, with a particular focus upon the development and advocacy of a Formal Methods Body of Knowledge (FMBOK), analogous to the Institute of Project Management's PMBOK. This BOK would facilitate the design of appropriate programmes of education and training - undergraduate, graduate, and professional - for modern software engineers, as well as promoting the sharing of teaching approaches, educational tools, and teaching materials. Contributions are invited on this theme, and on the related themes below:

• Experience of teaching FM at higher/further education and in professional training at companies
• The FM curriculum within computer science and software engineering curricula
• Teaching methodologies for FM
• Academic/industrial FM tools and education tools in teaching FM
• Pre-requisites for FM education