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Microworlds, Objects First, Computational Thinking and Programming

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Computational Thinking in the STEM Disciplines

Abstract

Teaching of programming has long been dominated by language-oriented approaches augmented by industrial design techniques, with little attendant pedagogy. However, an influential alternative has been Papert’s constructivism, through playful exploration of constrained microworlds. The archetypal microworld is based on turtle graphics, as exemplified in Papert’s Logo language. Here, students compose and repeat sequences of operations to steer and move a turtle that leaves a trail behind it. Contemporary graphical environments like Alice and Scratch augment the turtle world with colourful interacting animated avatars.

Computational thinking (CT), as popularised by Wing, offers an approach to problem-solving in which programming is the final stage. CT has been widely heralded as a new pedagogy of programming. However, interpretations of CT vary widely from a loose assemblage of techniques to a systematic discipline. In this chapter, I will argue that microworlds and objects first build superficial programming skills at the expense of deeper competences in problem-solving. I will further argue that systematic CT offers a way to refocus on problem-solving for programming.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Nancy Falchikov for valuable discussions about constructivism, development and cognition.

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  1. School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland

    Greg Michaelson

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  1. Greg Michaelson
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Correspondence to Greg Michaelson .

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  1. Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Myint Swe Khine

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Michaelson, G. (2018). Microworlds, Objects First, Computational Thinking and Programming. In: Khine, M. (eds) Computational Thinking in the STEM Disciplines. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93566-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93566-9_3

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