Options Home | Pre-KK | 15 | 68 | 912 | Possible Lesson Plans | ||||||
While standard elementary school math curricula generally do not cover computer programming in any significant way, the recent Investigations in Number, Data, and Space series published by Pearson Scott Foresman approaches basic geometry using Logo to supplement paper-and-pencil exercises. Here, we examine the "Turtle Paths" unit in the Investigations third grade curriculum as an example of the integration of programming into pre-existing course material. Jointly developed by Pearson Scott Foresman and TERC (a non-profit organization originally named Technical Education Research Centers), the Investigations series does not have an independent programming unit at the third grade level but rather introduces students to programming as part of a unit on angles and distances. Specifically, the "Turtle Paths" unit teaches a variant of the Logo programming language entitled Geo-Logo to introduce "rotation and reflection, coordinate geometry, the propeties of 2-D shapes, and angles" (I-9). The teacher's guide for this unit explains that the curriculum is based on studies indicating that children learn geometry by action rather than visualization. For this reason, watching the Logo turtle move, as well as participating in kinesthetic activities, supports the more traditional lesson plans and appeals to different learning styles. TERC presents a series of studies confirming the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed in the Investigations series. Additional advantages of using Geo-Logo, according to the teacher's guide, include:
Programming exercises in this curriculum designed to appeal to younger students include the following:
Other interesting components of the Investigations curriculum pertaining to early computer science education include:
Overall, the Investigations provides a simple introduction to the algorithmic thought process with little emphasis on programming syntax or methods. Such a curriculum could be useful for schools seeking to use programming to supplement pre-existing lesson plans rather than teach computer science as its own subject area. These activities support computer science curricula indirectly, since they instill confidence in students hesitant to learn more complex programming techniques by starting with a relatively simple language. On the other hand, however, Investigations' lack of focus on programming techniques implies that it does little to directly support the introduction of more complex programming languages in later years. |
||||||
Early
Acquisition of Computer Science ·
©2008 Justin Solomon and Peter Rusev
|
||||||