Nontrivial Pursuit [microform] : The Hidden Complexity of Elementary Logo Programming. Technical Report / D. N. Perkins and Others
- Bib ID:
- 5493404
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Perkins, D. N
- Online Version:
- https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED296702
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- Description:
-
- [Washington, D.C.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1986
- 29 p.
- Summary:
-
The thinking processes of students of Logo were examined to identify programming problems and possible instructional remedies. Subjects were 11 students between the ages of 8 and 12 who had completed 5 weeks of Logo instruction. These students were given a series of five short programming problems highlighting such areas of difficulty as judging angles, deciding on the directions of turns, using a variable, and using a subprocedure. The data collected included notes taken by the experimenter recording program errors, attempted repairs, and code written by students. A coding system was used to provide a measure of students' successes and errors in terms of the number of elements in a program they programmed correctly and their problem-solving efforts. The success rate in terms of elements correct was high, but success in terms of programs running successfully was lower, and a number of problems with what might be considered trivial aspects of Logo were recorded. A few students evinced serious problems with understanding tasks involving variables and a subprocedure. Possible explanations for the challenge of trivial elements of programming include: (1) the conjunctivity effect of minor problems; (2) a shortfall in elementary problem-solving strategies; (3) difficulty in discriminating concepts with superficial similarity; and (4) domain and domain operation problems. It is concluded that many trivial elements of Logo pose genuine conceptual difficulties, a problem that instruction must face and resolve. (25 references) (MES)
- Notes:
-
- Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
- Contract Number: 400-83-0041.
- Researchers.
- May also be available online. Address as at 14/8/18: https://eric.ed.gov/
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Educational Technology Center, Cambridge, MA
- Available From:
- ERIC
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1986
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