Programming and problem solving at Key Stage 3

Creative Problem Solving Projects At Key Stage 3
Thomas Ng
Miles Berry
John Stout
Roger Davies
Peter Marshman
Peter Dickman

Thomas Ng
West Berkshire Council

Setting the scene
students expect lessons to be fun
management expects lessons to be engaging
parents expect lessons to be demanding
universities expect lessons to be motivating
society expect lessons to be about problem solving

The Panel
the building block of knowledge Miles Berry
Scratch and BOYB John Stout
Star Logo TNG Roger Davies
Googe Apps Inventor Peter Marshman
Google's view of problem solving Peter Dickman

Miles Berry
Roehampton University

Learning
Images NASA, Wellcome

Learning Computing
Images PCNews, Wellcome

Learning Styles
Images River Beach, Beppie K, Hans and Carolyn

Three Wise Men

Froebel Gifts
Image Falling Water Museum Store

Lego
Image Andy Carol, Lego, Gadgetreview

The Craft of Construction
Images US Dept. of Defense, Photozou

Pinnacles of achievement
Image Aheilner

Papert & Logo

Microworlds
More is needed than an intuitive, seat of the pants experience. The student needs to … conceptualize and ‘capture’ this world.Papert, 1980
With scientific method, we took things apart to see how they work. Now with computers we can put things back together to see how they work, by modelling complex, interrelated processes, even life itself. This is a new age of discovery, and ICT is the gateway. Adams, 1999

Stepping stones

Problem Solving
The key skill of problem solving involves pupils developing the skills and strategies that will help them to solve the problems they face in learning and in life. Problem solving includes the skills of identifying and understanding a problem, planning ways to solve a problem, monitoring progress in tackling a problem and reviewing solutions to problems. All subjects provide pupils with opportunities to respond to the challenge of problems and to plan, test, modify and review the progress needed to achieve particular outcomes.
DfES/QCA 1999

Case based instruction
“Teaching begins not with a theoretical exegesis of domain concepts but with a real problem… rather than learning (and forgetting) all about a field before being allowed to solve a meaningful problem, case-based instruction is based on the belief that what you learn while trying to solve a complex problem you will better comprehend and retain much longer… The most important rationale for case-based instruction is that it at least simulates the kind of activity that students are preparing for.”
Jonassen 2004, pp 52-53

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting is among the most commonly experienced kinds of problem solving in the professional world… the problems that are most completely and accurately recalled are those that are most difficult to solve, because the problems solver was more conceptually engaged in the process.
Jonassen 2004, p13

John Stout
King George V Sixth Form College

BYOBBuild Your Own Blocks
is Scratch (BYOB runs Scratch projects)
has a few (a very few) new concepts
encourages students to design blocks,
creating a new language for each problem
can be used at any age / education level
encourages higher level thinking (abstraction)

Clicking this lets the student create this new block

Then drag and drop existing blocks into the new definition
But generalising the idea of drawing a square[draw a square [ ] ] now adds to the language

something[ and somethingElse[ are blocks, or actions, that can be treated in just the same way as numbers, or strings
Continuing in this way the language can be extended to fit the problem, e.g., in a project to model infection (see Roger’s presentation later), we could provide students with fallIll, recover, andbecomeImmuneblocks.

The map block (its definition can be seen and edited) simply applies the action specified (in this case [2 * []] to the list of numbers [1 19 13] to give the expected result

Finally a bit of fun with a serious side to it
BYOB has a Mesh facility which allows two (or more) BYOB projects to share data using the [broadcast message] and [sensor value] blocks. We have implemented a networked PONG game, so that two students can play each other at PONG across the network.
Details in the latest CAS newsletter

Roger Davies
Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale

A Model Of An Epidemic
Create The Population
Seed The Infection
Make The Population Mobile
Spread Infection On Contact

Create The Population
Seed The Infection

Make The Population Mobile

Spread Infection On Contact

Allowing Agents To Recover
Set A Recovery Variable
Create A ‘Get Well’ Procedure
If RandomNo(100) < Recovery
Set Colour = Green
Run ‘Get Well’ Procedure
On Each Step

Set A Recovery Variable
Create A ‘Get Well’ Procedure
If RandomNo(100) < Recovery
Set Colour = Green

Run ‘Get Well’ Procedure
On Each Step

Further Refinement
Making Some Agents Immune
Keeping Count Of Those Infected
Graphing The Change Over Time
Over To The Pupils

Peter Marshman
Park House School

App Inventor: Features
Design canvas with a continually updated range of object controls;
Object controls for custom procedure implementation and for dynamic interaction with Android features;
Drag and drop block editor to program solution;
Download direct to phone, package for phone or direct to an emulator.

App Inventor: Features

Potential Uses
Canvas drawing applications;
Dynamic mapping applications;
Quiz applications;
Data collection applications;
Subject specific applications;
Lego Mindstorms applications;
Animation applications.

App Inventor: Student Experience
Converts everyday experience of Apps into an intrigue and appreciation of programming at a basic level;
Development of algorithmic thinking through trial and error and planning of block construction;
Engagement through the personalisation and ownership of developed Apps that can be further developed and exhibited away from the classroom.

Peter Dickman
Google

Simon Humphreys
Computing at School

For more information…
CAS materials
CAS local hubs
CAS conferences
CAS online community

Contact
simon.humphreys@computingatschool.org.uk
www.computingatschool.org.uk

Programming and problem solving at Key Stage 3

by Miles Berry

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