I want to explain the concept of "cryptographic keys" to high school/university-level students.
I can imagine approaching this in two different ways:
- "Cryptographic keys are ..."
- "A cryptographic key is ..."
On the surface level, these two openers are barely any different, but I wonder if using the plural version ("XYZ are ...") incurs a greater mental debt on a learner. When a concept is referred to in its plural form, it takes on a much more abstract image when I try to visualize it in my mind, which for me is more difficult to work with. On the other hand, a concept referred to as a singular instance ("An XYZ is ...") collapses down into a single unit, which I think is easier for me to mentally visualize.
I guess in a sense, a plural form concept is to a wall as a singular instance of a concept is to a brick (or at least that's how I imagine it might feel to a learner).
What do you guys think about this, and are there any pedagogy studies about this? I tried finding some online but my Google-fu is failing. Might be time to try ChatGPT.
