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Nontrivial Pursuit: The Hidden Complexity of Elementary Logo Programming. Technical Report.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Nontrivial Pursuit: The Hidden Complexity of Elementary Logo Programming. Technical Report.
Language: English
Authors: Perkins, D. N., Educational Technology Center, Cambridge, MA.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 29
Publication Date: 1986
Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Intended Audience: Researchers
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Difficulty Level, Elementary Education, Problem Solving, Programing, Psychological Studies
Abstract: The thinking processes of students of Logo were examined to identify programming problems and possible instructional remedies. Subjects were 11 students between the ages of 8 and 12 who had completed 5 weeks of Logo instruction. These students were given a series of five short programming problems highlighting such areas of difficulty as judging angles, deciding on the directions of turns, using a variable, and using a subprocedure. The data collected included notes taken by the experimenter recording program errors, attempted repairs, and code written by students. A coding system was used to provide a measure of students' successes and errors in terms of the number of elements in a program they programmed correctly and their problem-solving efforts. The success rate in terms of elements correct was high, but success in terms of programs running successfully was lower, and a number of problems with what might be considered trivial aspects of Logo were recorded. A few students evinced serious problems with understanding tasks involving variables and a subprocedure. Possible explanations for the challenge of trivial elements of programming include: (1) the conjunctivity effect of minor problems; (2) a shortfall in elementary problem-solving strategies; (3) difficulty in discriminating concepts with superficial similarity; and (4) domain and domain operation problems. It is concluded that many trivial elements of Logo pose genuine conceptual difficulties, a problem that instruction must face and resolve. (25 references) (MES)
Entry Date: 1988
Accession Number: ED296702
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:The thinking processes of students of Logo were examined to identify programming problems and possible instructional remedies. Subjects were 11 students between the ages of 8 and 12 who had completed 5 weeks of Logo instruction. These students were given a series of five short programming problems highlighting such areas of difficulty as judging angles, deciding on the directions of turns, using a variable, and using a subprocedure. The data collected included notes taken by the experimenter recording program errors, attempted repairs, and code written by students. A coding system was used to provide a measure of students' successes and errors in terms of the number of elements in a program they programmed correctly and their problem-solving efforts. The success rate in terms of elements correct was high, but success in terms of programs running successfully was lower, and a number of problems with what might be considered trivial aspects of Logo were recorded. A few students evinced serious problems with understanding tasks involving variables and a subprocedure. Possible explanations for the challenge of trivial elements of programming include: (1) the conjunctivity effect of minor problems; (2) a shortfall in elementary problem-solving strategies; (3) difficulty in discriminating concepts with superficial similarity; and (4) domain and domain operation problems. It is concluded that many trivial elements of Logo pose genuine conceptual difficulties, a problem that instruction must face and resolve. (25 references) (MES)