Manipulatives Assignment
For Jessie: A manipulative board for simulating the mechanism of the For-loop in programming
With Stefanie Koseff and Lena Orfanos
Having experienced the frustrations of relaying the concepts of programming to beginners, I wanted to take on the challenge of designing a manipulative tool that explains the For-loop. Most algorithms are mathematics at the root and we wanted to represent that in the manipulatives so that learners could visualize the pathways of the programming loop.
Early thoughts:
Problem: How might we teach early to mid-elementary aged children about the mechanics (“how”) behind For Loop Programming using manipulatives?
Brainstorming: We went through a few ideas that included a robot that “knocks” blocks down (speaking to our inner child and love of destroying supermarkets) and also talked about see-saw systems and adding/taking away weights.
However we found these ideas were not dynamic enough; they limited the manipulatives we could have created. Most importantly, when considering the abstract concepts of for loops, these manipulatives would not allow us to explore any “subtraction” properties.
It was important for us to realize “why” do we need the for loops? So we iterated upon our problem statement.
We decided we wanted a manipulative with a “real-life” story.
Working towards the solution:
Problem: How might we teach early to mid-elementary aged children about the mechanics (“how”) and logic (“why”) behind For Loop Programming using manipulatives?
Ideated Solution: For Jessie
Using individual and strung-together blocks on a map-grid system, learners identify the pathways that our character, Jessie, can take to reach home (and their friends’ homes!). As learners master entry challenges, they can try more complex paths and explore different formats of the for loop (adding steps, subtracting steps, programming terms, etc.)
Key Components:
- Counting
- Repetitive Steps
- Constructing Pseudocode
- Real-life context
- Discovery learning
Moving from Completely Independent Learning to Guided Instruction
Context of Use:
“We envision this product as a teaching aid in classrooms where the students are led through different challenges by an instructor. These instructors can include early elementary teachers who wish to expand the core curriculum or visiting experts (such as STEM Matters NYC), who may run specialized programs or come to the school. Ideally, the teacher/visiting instructor has a background in mathematics and computer programming
Primarily a tool used to build early computational thinking skills that will then be expanded upon by the time the student is able to begin computer science classes in the standard state curriculum (typically 3rd-5th grade).”
Second Iteration:
We redesigned the grid, this time not cutting out all of the spaces. In future iterations, this could be designed in such a way that different grids of varying complexity could be offered to more advanced students. Since we wanted to cut the pseudocode plates out of acrylic, we decided to re-cut the grid out of acrylic as well. We liked the fact that it could be drawn on with markers, too.
User Guide
Step 1: instruct learner to take Jessie from their starting point to a particular house on the board. Use the shortest path to get there.
Step 2: Use the blocks of either 1 or 2 or 3 units to travel. Students are not allowed to use a mix of different units on one path. A path can be horizontal or vertical. In some cases a student must use a combination of vertical and horizontal paths.
Step 3: After the students complete the task, the instructor will guide the learner through “describing” the steps Jessie took. This description will help them complete the For loop pseudocode plates. Each sequence of vertical and horizontal paths will make up separate For loops.
Example of the instructor guide and questions:
“Where did Jessie start from? Where do they stop on one straight line?” – start and stop points of the For loop
“How many blocks did you use for the first horizontal path?” – concept of repetitive steps and counting
“Which (unit) block did you use?” – The concept of incrementing a For loop to keep it running until the stop condition
Educational Theories
Constructivism:
The formal written for loop expression is represented in 3 different ways that build upon one another. These three levels build upon each other in the following way:
- At the earliest level (~5 y.o.), the for loop remains a playful “maze-like” challenge for the child-user, who is tasked with using blocks to get Jessie home. (This level also taps into learners’ prior schema and understanding of “finding their way home”, as well as early math such as addition and subtraction.
- The next level (~6-7 y.o., though 5 y.o. may also enjoy the challenge) asks learners to take their understanding of Jessie/the blocks and translate it into a sentence.
- The final level (~7-8 y.o.), asks the learners to take the final step and present the Jessie/block challenge in the correct for loop coding syntax.
Cognitivism:
By asking learners to write out sentences/for loop syntax the tool asks learners to explain their thinking as they had guided Jessie “home”. This experience can be led by the instructor, who will prompt discussion and reflection on the knowledge gained as well as where that knowledge came from in their exploration of the manipulative.
Additionally, the different levels rely on Vyogotsy’s Zone of Proximal Development. That is, the work that a child can produce and knowledge they can demonstrate on their own versus with help. The ZPD is the area in which the learner has the opportunity to push their knowledge with help from a guide. In this case, the instructor helps the learners through their ZPDs by playing with the Jessie blocks to writing a sentence to writing the for loop code.
Behaviorism:
Positive/Negative Reinforcement of whether the blocks fit/don’t fit on their pathway to home.