Constructivist perspective. Modelling with constructivist computing. How to get to Aizu? A sense-making artefact or construal 25/06/2011

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1 Modelling with constructivist computing Meurig Beynon and Steve Russ Empirical Modelling Research Group Computer Science, University of Warwick Constructivist perspective humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas [Wikipedia] computing gives us the power to generate experiences in unprecedented ways offering new prospects for linking learning to construction with computing technologies... and a new conceptual framework for computing Empirical Modelling (EM) as Construction IDEAS Construal rather than program... a sense-making artefact cf. spreadsheet... relating to a current moment in live experience Possible ways of interacting with the spreadsheet and how in the current context these may be interpreted in the referent The status of the spreadsheet: e.g. provisional / final relating to current students, historical, fictional, illustrative, cosmetic etc. EXPERIENCES Examinations grid Students academic performance Programs and construals in context... Second International Conference on Cognitive Technology (CT'97) : Humanizing the Information Age August Aizu, Japan How to get to Aizu? A sense-making artefact or construal 1

2 The human component sense-making and understanding The reality to which the construal refers the referent Empirical Modelling as Construction Sense-making and understanding interpreting Kanji The significance of context Orientation Classical computing Clear explicit objectives Engineered environment Reliable responses Well-defined observables Clear interpretations Recipes for action goal: full automation Getting to Aizu in 1997 Constructivist computing... Ill-defined objectives Natural environment Partially reliable responses Open-ended observables Fuzzy interpretations Exploratory interaction goal: fuller understanding "Constructivist computing : Model-building that makes out of our personal experiences a world of common sense. Links objective knowledge and personal knowing: Each instance of knowing is a connection made in the present experience of an individual. and in March

3 Experiencing Understanding private experience / empirical / concrete interaction with artefacts: identification of persistent features and contexts practical knowledge: correlations between artefacts, acquisition of skills identification of dependencies and postulation of independent agency identification of generic patterns of interaction and stimulus-response mechanisms non-verbal communication through interaction in a common environment Significance for education A constructivist outlook on knowledge is essential in making sense of educational activities in their full generality. directly situated uses of language identification of common experience and objective knowledge symbolic representations and formal languages: public conventions for interpretation public knowledge / theoretical / formal Modelling with constructivist computing Teaching and learning remind us over and over that we cannot directly share the experiences of our students and our teachers, and that the notion of common understanding is wholly mysterious. EM principles Model-building as construing: creating artefacts that are experienced as relating to an external situation cf. the spreadsheet Illustrative examples of EM construal Key concepts observables cf. cells dependency relations cf. defns agency cf. which cells we can change 25 June 2011 g*collaborate... a Group One project 17 Making sense of an internal combustion engine Seb Sidbury 4 th year MEng student 3

4 Points to note Can study the engine mechanism Can observe what the driver sees Can experiment with the gears Can crash the model by abusing the engine Can switch off the engine and move the piston: _piston_compression = 0.5; Spreadsheet style characteristics How EM construals are built The Sudoku solving construal: built using the EDEN interpreter comprises c observables can use to assist Sudoku solving can develop solution programs gives insight into human solving Why so many observables? Reconstruction from colour Sudoku interaction history Background colour of each cell depends on the plausible digits for that cell Observables associated with the grid cell D3 (lightblue) Initial state Solving in the Colour Sudoku mode Modelling of an Oppikofer planimeter Interface and an extract from network of dependencies 4

5 Prospects for constructivist computing Modelling of personal keystroke dynamics Matthew Carter 4 th year MEng student Classical accounts of computing focus on contexts where automation can be engineered s for current and potential use go far go far go far beyond this scope in view of the unfathomable richness of the natural world the potential of/for new computing technologies the diversity of human skill and imagination Topical areas transcend science in its narrow sense: learning, medicine, humanities, Relevance for computing Integrating academic computer science with ICT: consider e.g. distinguishing the varieties of pdf file understanding complex applications e.g. Synthesisers conceptual problems posed in giving software support in modern research environments Compare the issues that arise in software development, where there is a critical need to take account of diverse informal perspectives More resources... The EM website: Online version of the EDEN interpreter: with link via Further Examples on LHS of webpage to the Sudoku Experience workshops More resources Publications on the EM website: Educational technology related papers and models accessible via link Application Areas on LHS of webpage. See e.g. paper #107: More resources Also paper #096: Computing technology for learning -in need of a radical new conception... and a video presentation online at: /Lists/Events/ShadedView.aspx Constructivist CS Education Reconstructed 5