80273 LEARNING THROUGH COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Year	No.	Offer	Mode	Description			Cred. Pts
01	80273 	S2  	D 	LEARN THROUGH COMP PROGRAM	1.00

Contents

• Staffing
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference Materials
• Student Workload
• Assessment Details
• Other Requirements

STAFFING:

RATIONALE:

There  is  considerable debate within the educational community  about
the  benefits of computer programming as a medium for learning general
problem-solving  skills.  The theories and research  evidence  warrant
examination  to  see what advantages may be gained  for  teachers  and
students.

SYNOPSIS:

This  unit  will focus on the applications of computer programming  to
development of problem-solving skills. Students will be introduced  to
the theory and practice of computer programming in support of learning
as  articulated  by  Papert and others. The Logo programming  language
will   be   introduced  using  a  problem-solving  approach  and   its
application  in  primary  school classrooms will  be  examined.  Other
approaches to teaching problem-solving using computer programming  and
related techniques will be treated briefly.

OBJECTIVES:

On successful completion of this unit students will be able
to:

1. discuss the underlying philosophy of Logo and issues relating
   to its educational use;
   
2. design and code programs in Logo using structured techniques;
   
3. discuss the relationships between computer programming and
   problem solving from an educational perspective;
   
4. discuss some alternatives to Logo as a computing environment
   for learning problem-solving approaches.
   

TOPICS:

 Description                                                    Weighting(%)

The Culture of Logo                                                   20.00
- origins and philosophy of Logo
- micro worlds
- Logo in classrooms

Logo programming basics                                               50.00
- turtle graphics
- text output
- variables and procedures
- words and lists

Problem-solving                                                       20.00
- heuristic processes
- models and strategies
- programming and problem-solving
- problem-solving with Logo

Other environments for problem-solving                                10.00
- Lego
- Prolog

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed:

Floppy disks.

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the unit and enrich their learning experience.

Flake, J., McClintock, C. & Turney, S. 1990, Fundamentals of Computer
Education, Belmont, Calif. Wadsworth.

Papert, S. 1980, Mindstorms: Children, computers and powerful ideas,
Brighton, Harvester Press.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS:

	ACTIVITY				HOURS
Lectures                                      	28
Tutorials/Workshops                           	14
Private Study                                 	120

ASSESSMENT DETAILS:

No  *F/S Marks     Due        Description                              Wtg(%)    LBL WWW
1   S    60.00     WK 15     ASSIGNMENT 1                              60.00     Y   Y
2   S    40.00     END S2    EXAMINATION 2 HOURS                       40.00     N   N

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

1    Students will be required to use appropriate software such as the
     word  processor  for  preparation  of  assignments  and  tutorial
     exercises submitted for assessment.
2    Data disks may be required to be submitted with assessment work.
3    When  there  is  more  than  one marker  for  a  single  item  of
     assessment, the distribution patterns and means for the different
     markers will be compared and marks adjusted if necessary.
4    Marking   criteria  are  provided  in  unit  material   as   mark
     sheets/guides or as part of assignment specifications.
5    Summative assessment items will be given a numerical score.
6    Unit Grades will be calculated by aggregating the weighted result
     or  numerical  score  for  each summative  assessment  item.  Any
     ungraded  assessment requirement will receive  a  Pass,  Fail  or
     Incomplete.
7    All  assessment  items  must  be attempted/submitted.  Assessment
     items must be passed overall.
8    If  assignments  are  submitted after the  due  date  without  an
     approved extension of time, a penalty of 10% of the mark  awarded
     by  the examiner for the assessment item will apply for each  day
     late.