Informatics in Logo for High School Alexandra Yudina Moscow State Fifty Seventh School, Moscow ORT Technology School 7, Kuusinena, apt. 95, Moscow, 123308, Russia email: [email protected] Abstract In Russian schools Logo environments are almost exclusively in the hands of Informatics teachers. Therefore, the important way to get the educational benefit of Logo pedagogy is to develop Logo courses of Informatics. The paper describes the Logo course of Informatics for high school that has been used in many of Russian schools for several years. A characteristic distinction of the course is that it is based on the special system of tasks. This system provides a rapid and suitable way for students to gain experience in solving problems and then introduce them to research activities in the fields of mathematics, physics and informatics. Keywords: Logo in high school, system of tasks, exploring activity 1.Informatics in Russian schools Informatics is a separate subject in Russian schools. As a rule, all computers in a school are installed in a computer lab (or labs). These labs are mostly used for teaching Informatics. Only a small number of schools use computers for teaching other school subjects. In Russian schools teaching is still based on a strong separation of subjects. Therefore, the only person in an ordinary school who can introduce progressive ideas and bring in new approaches related to applying computers in education is a teacher of Informatics. Whether or not to use Logo is a decision of each individual teacher. The important way to get the educational benefit of Logo pedagogy is to develop Logo courses of Informatics. Informatics as a compulsory subject was established in Russian schools in mid-80s. At that time, the function of the new subject was to disseminate ‘computer literacy’. The subject was supposed to focus on teaching programming. Attention was also paid to fundamentals of hardware and to such topics of computer science as number systems and Boolean logic. At the beginning, for about 10 years, the content of the course remained nearly the same. However, rapid development of hardware and software caused gradual changes in the educational content of the subject. By mid-90s, the meaning of words ‘computer literacy’ had changed. It became clear that everybody does not need to be a programmer, and, on the other hand, user skills are of great importance for future employment of students. By that time Russian educational system had been to a great extent decentralized. Schools were allowed to determine curriculum on their own to some degree. In schools with well-equipped computer labs Informatics began to transform from programming to making computerized documents. No doubt that from the merely utilitarian point of view studying Windows and Microsoft Office is very useful for students. But if the focus in class is on user skills only, main educational possibilities of computer remain untouched. This question sparkled a lively discussion on the pages of pedagogical periodicals; the debates resulted in developing and setting up the State Minimum Curriculum in Informatics. It covers the following main topics: 165 Information (concept, representation, transmission, storage, processing); Number systems and Boolean logic; Computer (main components, their functions, system software); Algorithms and programming; Modeling and simulation; Information technologies (text and graphic editors, spreadsheets, data bases); Networks and Internet. The compulsory course is to cover at least 68 hours (for example, in 10th grade, two hours a week). However, schools with computer labs usually extend the course and determine at which stage it would be best started (grades 7-9 or 10-11). Every school has the right to compose its own, individual curriculum in accordance with the local features – human conditions and equipment. But it should be based on the requirements of the Minimum Curriculum. There are several recommended textbooks which introduce different approaches to the course. Informatics teachers can build up their own sequence of topics and select learning materials and kinds of activities that they think are most suitable for their students. On the whole, in the framework of the Informatics curriculum, computer is considered mainly to be a practical instrument and an object of study. It is only to a little degree that computer is regarded as an exploratory tool or a universal laboratory, and never – as a tool that gives the learner better opportunities to construct knowledge. 2. Informatics in Logo Logo appeared in Russian schools in early 90s. Applying it was not closely connected with the standard curriculum. Logo lay outside the educational mainstream. One of the main difficulties in Logo implementation was shortage of literature for teachers. Usually Logo was applied in ‘after class’ activities and mainly in lower grades of secondary school. This means that children just had fun playing with the turtle and then, in 8th or 9th grade they were to study Basic as ‘serious’ informatics topic. Logo potential remained unemployed. I have been using Logo environments in class since 1990. The experience of work with Logo in high school has convinced me that Logo is an adequate instrument for informatics teacher. Several years of using Logo in teaching practice had resulted in a course for high school students. The first variant of the course was published in 1995. It was appreciated by Informatics teachers and then adopted by officials. The last edition of this course titled ‘Informatics in LogoWriter’ was published in 1999. The edition included two books: the textbook and the teacher’s guide. Russian Ministry of Education has recommended the textbook for a core course. In this article I am going to describe the course and to propose examples of teaching materials. Initially the course was intended for those teachers who applied LogoWriter only. Then MicroWorlds, MSWLogo, and even Control Lab appeared in Russian schools. Presently I am preparing my next book for informatics teachers, which is based on experimental work in Moscow State Fifty Seventh School and Moscow ORT Technology School. Some of the examples given below are taken from this book. Logo-related materials in most cases are collections of project ideas and project descriptions. The proposed Logo course, on the contrary, is based on well-defined sequence of problems. This decision was motivated by several factors. As has been mentioned above, teachers have a choice among several textbooks with different approaches to teaching Informatics. To win recognition of teachers, an author of a new schoolbook should take into account a number of factors: how to motivate students, satisfy parents, meet requirements of standards, fit with the interests of administrators. But first of all, teaching materials should be well elaborated and convenient for everyday teaching practice. 166 Advantages of the project-oriented method are well known. However, it is not widespread, especially in high school. Project approach confronts rigid timetable of regular classes in Informatics. Students usually have one or two lessons a week; the curriculum is vast, so the lessons should be managed in an intensive manner. The project-oriented method cannot make sure the curriculum would be fully covered. Limitations imposed by project scenarios represent additional difficulties for teachers, who would prefer a more systematic introduction of the Informatics topics. In most cases, teachers prefer to know exactly what they have to do in class this week, next week, and so on … How to overcome these difficulties and make it easier for Logo approach to find the way into high school? A possible answer is to develop a special system of problems that would serve as some kind of a ladder both for teachers and students: a simple problem – a micro project – a mini project – and, maybe, large and complex project in the end. 3. System of Logo tasks The system is intended for a course of Informatics arranged for three years – 8th, 9th and 10th grades – with two lessons per week, i.e. 68 hours a year. A significant part of lessons is devoted to Logo activities that cover a number of Informatics topics and provide the integration with other school subjects: geometry, algebra and physics. The Logo book for students is a textbook and a book of problems at the same time. It is divided into small sections containing all the needed explanations and examples as well as a series of tasks at the end of each section. So a teacher has no need to explain new material at every lesson to the whole group of students. Students as a rule work at the computers performing the tasks one after another at their individual pace according to their abilities and background. Thus a teacher’s role is to look after the process of solving problems, to be an expert and an adviser, to facilitate discussions. 167 th 8 grade (50-55 lessons) Turtle geometry Procedures 72 tasks Parameters Students master Logo tools Variables, loops User input, conditional branches 55 tasks Recursion th 9 grade (20-25 lessons) Drawing graphs of functions 42 tasks Modelling different kinds of motion 23 tasks Students apply Logo tools toward the explorations th in the fields of math, physics and 10 grade (15-20 lessons) informatics Words and lists 12 tasks Tasks connected with data representation 22 tasks (coding systems that represents numbers, characters, graphics, sounds inside a computer) Table 1: System of tasks The first three parts of the system contains only graphic tasks. These parts play an important role in the course. A detailed description of these parts given below illustrates the suggested approach to teaching Informatics. 4. At the first stage students should gain experience of solving problems 1. Turtle geometry Figure 1: Sequence of tasks from the Chapter 1 of the textbook Students learn to describe a simple algorithm in sufficient and complete detail so that it can be performed precisely by another person or device.