May June 1980 - Commodore Computers

MAY/JUNE. 1980 I960 ISSUE 4 COMPUTE. 73
A class consists of about fifteen en students per com
m~
puter (our collaborating schools have only one APPLE
each; ; we hope to try the curriculum in multi
l11ulti~
computer classes later.) Five groups of three students
alternate computer pUler use with planning work using graph
paper and marker pens. The off-linee students are
planning their strategies, doing hand-simulations,
hand~ ations,
and observing the online students; for to graduate-
to the next activity, a group must successfullyy
predict the outcome of an assigned "seed" (geo­
metricc pattern, algorithm, , program, etc.) The
activities develop during eighteen een weeks, from a non­
nonlinguistic
color-pattern process called "quilting"
through immediate-mode i a t e ~m and straight-line-codes a i c~code emry
entry
of TURTLEGRAPHICS (Papert, 1970) commands,
the introduction of PASCAL control structures such
as REPEAT. .... .UNTIL and IF. . . ..THEN, , 10 to the
creation of cartoon characters and their animation
with complex programs using the RASCALR animation
system. The output is always color graphics aand music;
the curriculum um steadilyy increases its ""interactivity"
as students learn how to use joystick input to control
various types of motion. There is always an under~
lying g lesson about how programs work. All code is
in a completely structured language (PASCAL),
and is taught" "from the insidc inside OUl out" J) -~
only at
later stages do "environmental details" such as
declarations become of concern. A PASCAL interi
nl er~
preter r is used which scrolls the source-program being
executcd executed on the bottom of the screen (at a con­
trollable rate) while thee program produces its output
on the e top part of the screen. A working system
will be on exhibit at NECC/80. NECC/SO.
The cognitive style of the HSCS Curriculum
The central common fact that unifies our program/
lessons Quilting, Turtlegraphics Turtlcgraphics and more traditional
interactive games is that they sell themselves. No one
has to compel students to do their assignments.
The point at which our curriculum diverges
from ""closed" games is in the fact that the e only
real oopponent in traditional games is a pseudo pscudorandom
number generator, r , orr perhaps another
human. In a cognitive game the opponent is the thc
rich structure of our own ignorance.
. . The
excitement ent of being able to create pattern and
order is as old as the wall-paintings in the caves
of France. It is an essentially y human activity, onc one
at which all players can win. It is also a ''meta-
game', , in which an infinite number of specific
games and traditional games is analogous to that
between a set of blocks and a preassemblcd lOy. toy.
meta­
A different order of learning becomes possible.
.
The design style of the HSCS Curriculum
The fundamental design principle we have
followed owed is to attempt to make each lesson augment
the student's skillss in three areas: discovery,
control, aand design. We e allow students to "play"
with the system as each new feature is introduced,
but they have ""discovery questions" whose answers
they seek as they ""mess around", in more orr less
structured ways. They need to find thee answers to
be allowed access to thee next level of the system.
Studellls Students develop discovery skills by experimentally
answering questions like "what docs this command
do?"
We e ask students to undertake a specific
"challenge", such as the ""shoot-the-dot" game,
to develop their ability 10 to control the computer
by selectingg the correct command and providing
correct values for its operands. Their understanding
g
of the system is built by simulation exercises,
which allow them to predict the behavior of a
command, thus to choose the right command.
Later in the semester, students will begin
writing g programs; but even at earlyy stages there is
the impetus to design input sequences to produce
thee desired pattern. . Students must be able to produce
a sequence of commands which produces the
predicted output on first submission, n , to graduate
to the next t level of the system. .
AnOther Another principle e we have followed can be
summed up in the phrase' "design 'design from the first
experience". We believe that computer science
(orr anything else) should be taught ""from the inside
out". That is, first t experienccs experiences must incorporate
the heart hean of thee mailer matter at hand, with as little
extraneous matter as possible. For instance,
nce,
quilting teaches the fundamental core of the
computing experience: : in repetition of a controlled
process, there is great power. The Quilting lesson
is taught without introducing a word of jargon, j previous assignments, or complex command
sequences. Quilting, and its fundamental message,
can be taught to illiterates. iterates. The second lesson
similarlyy teaches thee relationship between opcrands,
operands,
operators and results. Only y after students have firm
operational skill with a given tool, , do we introduce
terminology, written reference materials and the
ultimately necessary environmental details such as
data declarations and control statements. We are
excited by the prospect of transforming rming gaming, a
traditional problem area for computing tcachers, teachers, into
one of their primary tools.
The authors acknowledge and appreciate the e assistance of their
collaborators: aboralOrs; R. R . M. Aiken, C. E. Hughes, H C. C:. R R. . Gregory
and J. A. Ross (Universit), (University of Tennessee); I.. L. Demarotta Dcmarotta
((H. I-I. C. Ma)'llard Maynard High School); E. Miner (Alcoa High School).
References
Aiken, R R. . M.; Hughes, C. E.; and Moshell.J. , .1 . M.,
"Computer Science Curriculum For High School Students",
Sludents",
Proceedings ACM/SIGCSE Conrerence, Conference, Kansas Kallsas City, Montana,
February 25, 1980
Moshell.J. , M M. . and Hughes, C. E. ""'RASCAL: Microcomputer
canaan cartoon animation with PASCAL", Proceedings ACM/ ACMI
SIGGRAPH Conference. Conference, Seattle, Washington, , August 1980
Papen. Papert, S., ""Teaching Children n Thinking", Proceedings
IFIP VYorld World Congress all on Complil Computers and Education, , Amslt!I"dam Amsterdam, ,
1970.
Postman, Neil, ""The Firs! First Curriculum: um: Comparing School
and Television", Phi Delta Kappan, , 61:3, November 1979.
This work is partially pania )' suppon supported cd by NSF Grant SED-79-18991 1 ©