Lambda the Ultimate

inactiveTopic Computer Languages for Secondary Education
started 4/9/2003; 5:10:20 AM - last post 4/10/2003; 7:03:38 PM
Ehud Lamm - Computer Languages for Secondary Education  blueArrow
4/9/2003; 5:10:20 AM (reads: 1464, responses: 4)
Computer Languages for Secondary Education
The essential idea behind our research is that by using a formal, well-defined language to express objects in a learning domain we can then use computers to provide new ways to explore and experience these objects. This also introduces an element of creativity into the learning experience. We allow students to construct and experiment within a learning domain where they can build and share artifacts.

Finally. Using DSLs in education. I've been waiting for this to happen.

The only ingredient I think is missing is actual language design. I am quite sure high school students are able, and would benefit, from designing and implementing DSLs.

It's up to us to make implementation easy enough. Now that's a research agenda.

(If you didn't guess by now, the people behind this project are the Pan/Haskore guys)


Posted to teaching/learning by Ehud Lamm on 4/9/03; 5:12:45 AM

Ehud Lamm - Re: Computer Languages for Secondary Education  blueArrow
4/9/2003; 6:01:13 AM (reads: 733, responses: 0)
One more blanket statement: Designing languages and notations is about creating abstractions, in the same way as learning is the process of creating cognitive abstractions.

Dominic Fox - Re: Computer Languages for Secondary Education  blueArrow
4/10/2003; 7:56:33 AM (reads: 645, responses: 1)

I was lucky enough to be one of the first UK schoolchildren to use Logo on a BBC B in a primary school classroom (this in about 1982).

As I recall, the idea that you could build a vocabulary specialized to a particular set of tasks out of a vocabulary of primitives was inescapably a part of using that language. I was quite excited about it at the time. For similar reasons I was briefly rather excited about Forth, which I found out about slightly later.

Ehud Lamm - Re: Computer Languages for Secondary Education  blueArrow
4/10/2003; 11:56:01 AM (reads: 668, responses: 0)
Maybe my baises can be explained by the fact that I also learned Logo when I was a kid.

Chris - Re: Computer Languages for Secondary Education  blueArrow
4/10/2003; 7:03:38 PM (reads: 609, responses: 0)
I never realized that Logo is Lisp in disguise until recently. I used BASIC and Logo as kid. I taught myself BASIC and was very fluent in it. Sadly, I had some really poor Logo teachers and they never introduced us to Logo "words" or functions. What's the point then? They just taught us to draw pointless turtle graphics.. :-(