This chapter begins our direct consideration of how technology can be involved in student learning. The focus is on the general topic of higher-order thinking skills. The attributes of higher-order thinking behaviors include:

• complexity - the process typically unfolds in stages without a complete course of action being evident from the beginning; often several alternative courses can be taken
• commitment of effort - higher-order thinking tasks require conscious effort
• self-regulation - metacognitive planning and monitoring are required
• exercising judgment - conflicting information must frequently be resolved

Problem-solving and critical thinking are identifiable skills qualifying as higher-order thinking. The characteristics just outlined apply in both cases.

Characteristics of the two types of behavior are identified in the following chart. Often, tasks involve both problem-solving and critical thinking.

Higher Order Skill	Purpose	Subskills
Problem solving	Processes involved in overcoming an obstacle to reach a goal	Recognize problem exists
		Represent situation
		Select strategy
		Implement strategy
		Evaluate and repeat if necessary
Critical thinking	Processes involving evaluation - in some applications to make a reasoned choice	Locate information appropriate to a purpose
		Analyze arguments
		Differentiate facts from beliefs
		Evaluate credibility of source
		Idenitfy assumptions
		Evaluate logic of arguments
		Weigh evidence or options

This chapter addresses the following questions:

• What is higher-order thinking, and what are the ways in which development of higher-order thinking skills might appear in the curriculum?
• What are three ways students may benefit from the combination of high-quality programming experiences and thoughtful instruction?
• What are the major characteristics of the LOGO programming language?
• What is the educational significance of transfer?
• How might the use of data loggers contribute to authentic research projects?
• Why might authentic research projects provide an educationally efficient approach to the development of both content-area knowledge and higher-order thinking skills?

I. Programming (pp. 83-103)

Programming is the process of creating a set of instructions that cause the computer to perform some desired action. Once programmers get past the challenge of how to provide instructions to the computer - either because they have mastered a particular programming language or because technology is adapted to allow an easier method of communication - the key skill is in explaining EXACTLY what the computer is to do. With experience, the challenge ends up being less in memorizing the factual vocabulary of programming and more with problem-solving.

I.A Why learn to program?

Programming experiences in academic settings serve three functions:

• programming is a valuable vocational skill
• programming is a way to learn to be an effective problem-solver
• programming is a way to learn aspects of academic content areas - e.g., geometry

A more complete discussion of programming

I.B Why emphasize LOGO?

LOGO was developed as a language intended to deliver on the multiple benefits of learning to program (programming skill, problem-solving, content area understanding). As such it provides an efficient example for our discussion.

Papert, the individual responsible for the emphasis on LOGO as a microworld or learning environment, was influenced by Piaget.

I.C Programming in LOGO

The most common method for introducing students to the LOGO language is through experiences with turtlegraphics. Turtlegraphics relies on a small screen turtle that moves and draws on the computer screen. The individual comamnds in LOGO are called primitives. As is true with commands in other programming languages, LOGO commands must follow an established syntax. The syntax for individual commands consists of rolues for combining keywords, punctuation, and arguments. In LOGO, the commands follow the format keyword [space] argument.

Some sample commands

PRIMITIVE	EXAMPLE	ACTION
cleargraphics	CG	Clear the screen
forward	FD 10	Move ahead 10 turtle steps
back	BK 10	Move back 10 turtle steps
right	RT 90	Turn right 90 degrees
left	LT 90	Turn left 90 degrees
penup	PU	Leave no trail
pendown	PD	Leave trail
home	HOME	Return to center of screen
hideturtle	HT	No turtle in graphic
showturtle	ST	Turtle is visible

A procedure is a set of instructions organized to accomplish a very specific task.

The format for a procedure is:

TO procedurename

some commands

END

The advantage of a procedure is that once it has been defined it can be called by name each time it is to be used and the entire set of commands does not have to be re-entered. Establishing a procedure is very much like adding to the basic vocabulary of the programming language.

TO SQUARE

REPEAT 4 [FD 30 RT 90]

END

Powerful languages also make use of variables. Variables allow procedures to be developed without specific specific values. For example, in the general procedure for a square, we expect the square to have 4 sides and 90 degree angles. What we do not know is how long a side will be.

TO SQUARE :SIDE

REPEAT 4 [FD :SIDE RT 90]

END

One procedure often calls another procedure. Sometimes the main program is called a superprocedure and the building block procedures contributing to this program are called subprocedures. Procedures can even call themselves - a method called recursion.

Here is a procedure that calls the square procedure and also demonstrates recursion.

TO BLACKHOLE :SIDE

SQUARE :SIDE

RT 12

Make “SIDE :SIDE*.985

IF :SIDE.5 [STOP]

BLACKHOLE :SIDE

END

A second extended example II. Ways to Teach Higher-Order Thinking

Classroom attempts to develop higher-order thinking skills can be categorized based on the manner in which the effort to develop high-order thinking skill relates to the development of another area of the curriculum (Wakefield, 1996).

• Stand-alone approach - a class has been developed for the specific purpose of teaching higher-order thinking skills
• Dual-agenda approach - developing higher-order thinking and content area knowledge or skills are both goals of a dual-agenda approach. Instruction in the two areas may be independent. However, there is usually some reason for combining the two goals within a course. One likely opportunity is to use the content area as a way to practice the higher-order thinking skills.
• Authentic task approach - higher-level thinking skills are used in activities that lead to the development of content-area skills/knowledge.

We classify the effort to develop high-order thinking through programming as a dual-agenda approach. We do so based on research suggesting that the transfer of problem-solving skill from programming experience requires mediated instruction (see textbook). An alternative is to identify the domain within which you would like to see students be able to apply higher-level thinking skills and then involve students with tasks within this domain that require such skills. The authentic task approach selects learning activities that involve both higher level thinking and content knowledge/skill.

II.A Programmind and the Development of Problem-Solving Skills

Logically, programming would seem to provide an ideal environment within which one might learn to become a more effective problem-solver. The steps in attacking a programming assignment are nearly identical to the stages in theoretical models of problem solving.

• Understand the task
• Develop a plan
• Covert the plan into programming code
• Evaluate how the program functions and modify as necessary

The research evaluating benefits of programming experience is very inconsistent.

II.A.1 Research on transfer

The process by which specific skills and knowledge acquired in one situation prove generally useful is referred to as transfer. This is essentially what educators who belief programming may help student learn to be better problem-solvers are hoping for. The goal is to prepare students to solve problems other than those involving programming.

The theoretical perspective adopted in this book argues that tranfer can occur in two ways - low road and high road transfer (Salomon & Perkins, 1987).

Low road transfer occurs when a behavior is practiced extensively in a variety of situations and it is learned to the point of automaticity.

High road transfer occurs when a behavior can be re-represented by the learner at a higher level of abstraction and the learner makes a conscious effort to apply the abstracted skill in new situations.

Salomon and Perkins examined research studies to determine whether or not students met the conditions for either low or high road transfer.

• spending enough time to become skilled programmers
• consider and discuss how they solve problems when they program
• discuss how techniques for solving problems can be applied in different situations

Few students actually spent enough time to become proficient programmers in most studies. When they learned through a more thoughtful approach (mediated instruction), it was more likely the study would find evidence of transfer.

Programming and problem-solving

II.A.2 Issues in Implementing LOGO

Many teachers appear to have interpreted the initial guidelines for involving students with LOGO as advocating little planning or intervention on their part. While the LOGO environment appears inherently motivating to many students, the pure discovery approach does not necessarily engage students in purposeful activities that encourage transferable problem-solving skills.

A more disciplined approach, supported by mediated instruction, encourages the teacher to make critical problem-solving strategies explicit as they apply to programming. The instructor can model planning, subproblem identification, etc. through think-aloud techniques. Some teachers require students to sketch out a plan on paper before allowing work at the computer. Mediated instruction also attempts to involve students in thinking about and anlyzing their own thinking and programming behavior. III. Programming to Learn in Other Content Areas (pp. 98-103)

A computer microworld provides an environment built to operate according to the rules of some actual or fictitious discipline. A student can explore and manipulate this environment and experience systematic consequences as a result of actions taken. These consequences allow the student to construct an understanding of the environment.

III.A Turtle geometry

The LOGO turtle allows exploration of a geometry microworld. Papert argues that turtle geometry allows a different way of understanding geometry. Your familiarity with geometry should allow you to understand what he means by a different way of understanding.

We use the example of a circle to make this point. You probably remember the formal definition of “circle” as something like - a plane, closed figure with all points equidistant from a common point. Circle can be understood using algebra (Descartian understanding) as r**2=x**2+y**2. If the radius of a circle is 1, x**2+y**2=1. Using a Cartesian coordinate system, you might graph values of X and Y to produce a circle.

The LOGO (computational system) for representing a circle might take the form of the following procedure:

TO CIRCLE :RADIUS

REPEAT 360 [

FD :RADIUS

WAIT 10

PD

FD 1

PU

BK 1

BK :RADIUS

WAIT 10

RT 1

]

END

If you take the time to work through what the procedure does, you will note that it acts out the definition of circle. The turtle moves out the distance of the radius from a central point, marks a point, backs up to the central point, rotates one degree, and then repeats the entire process.

III.B LEGO-LOGO

LEGO-LOGO is an extension of LOGO in which the learner constructs simple machines out of components (blocks, wheels, motors), connects the machine to a computer using an interface, and then controls the machine through a form of LOGO.

III.C Programming microworlds: Stagecast Creator

Various efforts are underway to develop programming methods that “move the computer closer to the learner” rather than expect the learner to “move closer to the computer.”

Stagecast Creator is based on the concept of “programming by demonstration.” For certain well-defined types of actions, the programmer executes the action and the computer stores the associated rules. Stagecast evolved from Apple Cocoa.

While untested (to our knowledge) as a way to develop problem-solving or specific content area skills, programs of this type reduce the overhead associated with learning a language.







Agentsheets © - another descendent of Cocoa

IV. Developing Higher-Order Skills in Other Ways

There are other ways in which technology tools can contribute to the development of higher-order thinking. Here we emphasize the use of tools that allow students to record data related to various characteristics of their physical world. The design, implementation, and presentation of research using these data provide an authentic way to investigate a number of content-area topics and to apply higher-order thinking skills within the context of such investigations.

IV.A Grabbing Data

Date collection devices consist of at least two components. The first is a sensor that is sensitive to a specific characeristic of the physical environment and the other is an interface that allows the user to tell the sensor what to do, stores the data, and transfers data to a computer or calculator for analysis.

There are at least three types of devices:

• Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) - different sensors can be linked to the same interface which is manipulated by programs running on a computer
• Calculator-based laboratory (CBL) - data from sensors are fed into a calculator. Data stored by the calculator can sometimes be uploaded to a computer.
• Data logger - freestanding device containing a sensory, battery, and interface. Data loggers can be connected to a computer for programming and to upload data.

The HOBO light intensity data logger used in the Ice Dusting Project described in Chapter 1.

Data collection is only one component of an authentic project. The other activities that provide the context for data collection are as important in encouraging meaningful learning and the development of higher-order thinking.

• Establishing or activating background knowledge relevant to the research topic is important.
• Thinking about the research methodology is an important opportunity for developing higher-order thinking. Most methods have weaknesses and decisions have to be made to develop the strongest test of the hypothesis (critical thinking).
• Scientists typically manipulate data to create meaning. Such processes may involve statistical procedures or creating a visual system of representation such as a chart or graph.
• The research process is not complete until scientists communicate what they have discovered. Communication requires interpretation and students learn what they know and perhaps do not understand as they attempt to explain the research process and the meaning of the data they have collected.

The heart monitor example