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DAVID MALAN: You can still get it, apparently, on Amazon, as we did here.
But the motivation here was to introduce cryptology--
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DOUG LLOYD: So this is really the first time
we introduce a domain-specific problem in the course as opposed
to the sort of back of the textbook problems.
DAVID MALAN: Yeah, and that's exactly the motivation.
I feel like too many textbooks and curricula
use fairly uninspiring problems to reinforce material
that may very well be good mechanical practice, but don't really excite
and don't really help you see the application of these fundamentals
to a problem.
DOUG LLOYD: You think that's one of the biggest pieces of advice
you'd give to a teacher is to try and make these problems more relatable
or connect them to things that students have seen in the past?
DAVID MALAN: I think so.
And it isn't even necessarily relatable, because many students might not
have dabbled in any form of cryptography before,
but most everyone can understand the idea of or the need for encryption
in some cases, even if it's like little secret messages being passed in class.
But I think creating an exciting and in a learning
domain in which to explore ideas and packaging problems in a way that really
does resonate with students, especially when they're so increasingly surrounded
with technology themselves.
And they have passwords and encryption on their phones,
and helping them appreciate the fact that those are not inaccessible ideas.
They themselves can implement them.
DOUG LLOYD: Right.