. ?

EXPERIMENTAL COURSE: LOGO

Summer Session, 1987

?

Instructor:

June 29 - August 7

?

Phone:

Monday & Wenesday ?

Location:

1:00 p.m. -

4:50

p.m.

David Bell

291-4129

MPX 8620F

"The Computer is going to be a catalyst of very deep and

radical change in the educational system. Guiding that

change will require far more than new facts, new statistics

and new policies. We need new conceptual frameworks for

thinking about the learning process itself. (Papert, 1984).

Seymour Papert, one of the creators of Logo, is concerned that children are being

programmed by computers, rather than the other way around. Logo (and the Logo culture

& environment) is a way of putting the child back in control of his own learning. This

course will look at the two elements present in Logo; on the one hand it is a programming

language and on the other, it is a way to begin thinking about thinking.

This is an in-depth immersion in the Logo environment. The course will function as a

professional seminar. Class time will be divided between lecture/demonstration, hands-on

computer time and class discussions.

All

are expected to contribute by participating fully,

by sharing their experiences, ideas, readings, bugs, experimentations and frustrations.

Each student will have an opportunity to present her work to the class for responses and

extensions.

Looking at classroom curriculum connections and the Logo teacher's role will be an

ongoing theme of the class discussions. Each participant will complete several

programming projects and create a classroom curriculum or in-service training unit for

future use. Participants may be entirely new to Logo or experienced in using it.

REQUIRED TEXT

Papert, Seymour; MINDSTORMS; New York: Basic Books, 1980.

There will also be a set of readings available at the first class meeting.