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EDUC2323 Computer Programming as a Tool for Learning

Explore microworld concepts in education, benefits for learners, challenges identified in research, and microworld features for interactive learning experiences. Delve into a microworld project with Jessica Ennis-Hill in space to understand concepts like surface gravity. Discover how learners interact with microworlds for problem-solving and debugging assumptions.

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EDUC2323 Computer Programming as a Tool for Learning

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  1. EDUC2323 Computer Programming as a Tool for Learning Workshop 4 (Week 8) Microworlds

  2. Programming and learning concepts for today… • The ‘microworld’ concept • Case studies microworld in education – what does it offer? • Learning with a real microworld • Remixing and commenting projects

  3. What is a ‘microworld’? “ a “place”, a “province of Mathland”, where certain kinds of mathematical thinking could hatch and grow with particular ease. The microworld was an incubator... The design of the microworld makes it a “growing place” for a specific species of powerful ideas or intellectual structures. (Papert, 1980, p. 125) “ environments where people can explore and learn from what they receive back from the computer in return for their exploration. It follows, therefore, that a microworld has its own set of tools and operations that are open for inspection and change. In this sense, learners themselves are in the position simultaneously of user and designer… (Hoyleset al, 2002: 30) “ “

  4. Reading Activity • 3x handouts – choose 1 • Each is summary of microworld-based research case study • Highlight benefits for learners from engaging with microworld environments • Highlight challenges, cautions or limitations identified by researchers • In groups of 3: share your findings and identify common themes

  5. Key features of microworlds (Edwards, 1992) • Models mathematical or physical properties of a particular ‘domain’ • But ‘micro’ because some more complex aspects of the ‘real’ domain have been left out – i.e. simplified reality • So makes abstract ideas ‘concrete’ but in a controlled, scaffolded way • Enables multiple representations of these underlying properties • Users can interact with microworld to change these properties and receive feedback on the results – i.e. they naturally promote exploratory/discovery learning • BUT the process is managed/scafforlded by the teacher – this is not free play, but a semi-guided process because the ‘world’ has been set up • Learners challenged to solve problems or reach goal using microworld • ‘Debugging’ of faulty assumptions and wrong understandings is natural part of process – they can be tested and checked as users interact

  6. Jessica ENNIS-HILL (Current British national record holder for the heptathlon)

  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Ennis-Hill

  8. Jess in Space Microworld Some initial questions • What’s your initial best guess? Where in the solar system would Jess be able to jump higher? Where lower? • What do you notice between the relationship between the radius of the planets etc and their surface gravity? • Compare Earth’s surface gravity with that of other planets etc. Make sure you understand how the column ‘Surface gravity compared to Earth (surface gravity/9.8)’ has been calculated. Exploring the microworld • Head to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/259057383/ • Quickly look through the scripts and work out how the microworldoperates • Use the microworld to complete the last column in the worksheet table • Use the columns ‘Surface gravity (m/s2)’ and your answers to how far Jess could jump to make a graph of your findings.

  9. Using the microworld and your graph to speculate • What would be the implications if Jess had a bad day and only jumped 1m? • What if astronomers discovered a ‘new’ planet which was somewhere between the size of Mars and Earth and had a surface gravity of 6.76. Can you use the graph to estimate how high Jess could jump? If we wanted a more exact ‘simulation’ of planetary gravity like this, amongst other factors we would need to consider… • Friction due to atmosphere • How high we are above centre of planet • Object mass • The fact that we don’t just jump up and down – there would be lateral trajectory too…

  10. Taking a more detailed look at the microworld scripts • You need to be logged in to Scratch for this to work… • Go to the microworld project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/259057383/ • Select ‘look inside’ and then click the ‘remix’ button in the top right: • You will now have your own copy of this project in your own Scratch ‘Stuff’. • Use the ‘add comment’ function from the right-click menu to ‘comment the code. • Try to explain what each block of set of blocks does within the project.

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