13 research outputs found
Design Early Considered Harmful: Graduated Exposure to Complexity and Structure Based on Levels of Cognitive Development
We have recognized that the natural tendency to teach according to the structure of oneās own understanding runs contrary to established models of cognitive development. Bloomās Taxonomy has provided a basis for establishing a more efficacious pedagogy. Emphasizing a hierarchical progression of skill sets and gradual learning through example, our approach advocates teaching software development from the inside/out rather than beginning with either console apps or monolithic designs
JKarelRobot: A Case Study in Supporting Levels of Cognitive Development in the Computer Science Curriculum
We introduce a new software tool, JKarelRobot, for supporting an Inside/Out pedagogy in introductory programming courses. Extending the original conception of Karel the Robot , with Bloom\u27s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as a guiding principle, we have provided a mechanism for designing exercises that are cognitively appropriate to the developmental levels of our students. JKarelRobot is platform independent (written in Java) and language/paradigm independent, supporting Pascal, Java, and Lisp style environments
Extracurricular activities for improving the perception of informatics in secondary schools
In order to introduce informatic concepts to students of Italian secondary schools, we devised a number of interactive workshops conceived for pupils aged 10\u201317. Each workshop is intended to give pupils the opportunity to explore a computer science topic: investigate it firsthand, make hypotheses that can then be tested in a guided context during the activity, and construct viable mental models. This paper reports about how we designed and conducted these workshops