Learning by experimenting

In the mind development in 7-12 years old children, Piaget elaborated the operational thinking concept (or the thinking through action with instruments). This thinking allows the 9-12 year olds to behave with a sort of rational intuition. According to him, it should be encouraged through active and experimental education because at this age, action precedes thinking. The hypothetic-deductive thinking appears later, after 12 years old in secondary education.

For Vygotsky, in his theory of activity, the learner alway operates through auxiliary instruments. These instruments are intermediate between the activity and child thinking. Depending on the domain and the learner, it imposes a representation more or less internalized in his mind.

The instrument is an artifact used in a unique manner by each learner. The way an artifact is used depends on the learner's knowledge, the activity and the environment. The instrumentation is therefore an artifact transformation process, according to the activity and the social schemes of the operator.

When computing, the artifact concept is interesting in transposing the instrumentation dimension, it helps for better action and experimentation usability. Therefore the computerized learning environment for the 7-12 years old children should follow this rule. However such a transposition, and anticipation on what and how instrumentation can take place, is not easy. Scientists like the Dr. Alan Kay thought about that transposition of the active education idea in computerized environment. Squeak, and its Morphic user interface, is such an example.

Squeak, a computerized learning environment

The Piaget contribution explains why a software like DrGeo is inappropriate for primary school children. Indeed, it is not compatible to the mental scheme of children below 12. Its experimental dimension is unsuitable, the interactive geometry requires hypothetic-deductive thinking and mental symbolism underdeveloped in primary school children.

However, DrGeoII is better suited to these children. It is not because it proposes the whole experimental environment, but because it is integrated in such a computerized environment. In this environment DrGeoII is only one element among several others. It is a bit like, if one can escape from the DrGeoII box to discover other boxes (software components) and the children can play with these ones, decide to make them interact... Indeed, DrGeoII is only one artifact (quite a complex one) integrated in Squeak, and as any other Squeak artefact's, it can be freely used and instrumented.

As an example,here is a pedagogical sequence on tessellation. It is constructed with DrGeoII, in its experimental environment. The first two videos show the construction of the sequence by a teacher. The third video shows a solution. It is of course open to didactic variation and adaptation to various learner profiles.

drgeoTessallation.png

These videos are on the free Ogg/Theora format, you can use VideoLan to visualize them.

This example is very simple. It will be very interesting if the learner could construct the tessellation pattern. But the objective was to show:

  1. the experimentation environment
  2. the use of artefacts from this environment
  3. the artefacts instrumentalisation process: how I can adapt an artifact to my special need and turn it as a specific instrument

What next?

This instrumentation links us to Vygotsky. The Morph user interface of Squeak allows these instrumentations at the user level. We have already discussed it in a previous article. Squeak already comes with such artifacts, we would like more artifacts to be elaborated, such as DrGeoII, grouped in libraries, to cover more teaching domains and for more experimentation.

Alan Kay, pensée profonde Squeak gives the feeling the most difficult part has been done; but still something is missing. Most teachers can not program artifacts. However, from existing ones and with EToys they can create experimental situations for their students,

Maybe a interested community could help to develop more artifacts? What do you think about that Dr. Kay?

Epilogue

If you have any thoughts about artifacts interesting to be used the Squeak program, please share your though in a comment below.