This article discusses the concept of a microworld and the role it might play in education. Three questions are asked of previous descriptions of microworlds: what does the microworld look and feel like, what are its design features, and what sort of learning happens? It is argued that most microworld designers begin from a desire to teach particular ideas, and design for an “exploratory” mode of learning in which the student explores the microworld to find hidden nuggets of knowledge. An alternative design strategy is described in an account of a microworld intended to help improve understanding of proportion. The design of this microworld, which arose from a commitment to helping with a specific learning difficulty, was based on research about the nature of that learning difficulty, and was designed for an “expressive” mode of learning in which the student is provided with tools to express his/her own ideas.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GoldenbergE. P., Logo—A Cultural Glossary, Byte, 2, pp. 210–299, 1982.
2.
GoodyearP., paper prepared for ESRC IT and Education Programme, Microworlds seminar held at King's College London, March, 1987, reported in Learning through Microworlds, LewisB. (ed.), Occasional Paper ESRC-ITE/26/88, Department of Psychology, University of Lancaster, 1988.
3.
ShadeD. D.WatsonJ. A., Computers in Early Education: Issues Put to Rest, Theoretical Links to Sound Practice, and the Potential Contribution of Microworlds, Journal of Educational Computing Research, 6, pp. 375–392, 1990.
4.
AbelsonH., Excellence in Educational Computing, unpublished MIT Memo quoted in Learning through Microworlds, LevisB. (ed.), occasional paper ESRC–ITE/26/88, Department of Psychology, University of Lancaster, 1988.
5.
BlissJ.OgbornJ., Tools for Exploratory Learning, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 5, pp. 37–50, 1989.
6.
PapertS., Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas, Basic Books, New York, 1980.
7.
PapertS., Computer Based Microworlds as Incubators for Powerful Ideas, in The Computer in the School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee, TaylorR. P. (ed.), Teacher's College Press, New York, 1980.
8.
PapertS., Microworlds, Transforming Education, in Artificial Intelligence and Education, Volume One: Learning Environments and Tutoring Systems, LawlerR. W.YazdaniM. (eds.), Ablex, Norwood, New Jersey, 1987.
9.
diSessaA. A., Artificial Worlds and Real Experience, in Artificial Intelligence and Education, Volume One: Learning Environments and Tutoring Systems, LawlerR. W.YazdaniM. (eds.), Ablex, Norwood, New Jersey, 1987.
10.
diSessaA. A., Knowledge in Pieces, in Constructivism in the Computer Age, FormanG.PufallP. B. (eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 49–70, 1988.
11.
LawlerR. W., Designing Computer Based Microworlds, Byte, 7, pp. 138–160, 1982.
12.
HoylesC.NossR., Synthesizing Mathematical Conceptions and Their Formalization through the Construction of a Logo-based School Mathematics Curriculum, International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology, 18, pp. 581–595, 1987.
13.
HoylesC.NossR.SutherlandR., Final Report of the Microworlds Project, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computing, Institute of Education, University of London, England, 1991.
14.
MellarH. G., The Understanding of Proportion in Young Adults: Investigating and Teaching a Formal Level Skill through a Logo Microworld, Ph.D. thesis, London University, England, 1987.
15.
von GlaserfeldE., An Introduction of Radical Constructivism, in The Invented Reality, WatzawickP. (ed.), W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 1984.
16.
HartK., Ratio: Children's Strategies and Errors, NFER-Nelson, Windsor, England, 1984.
17.
KarplusR.PulosS.StageE. K., Proportional Reasoning of Early Adolescents, Mathematical Reasoning Improvement Study MRIS-7, Group in Science and Mathematics Education, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1981.
18.
NoeltingG., The Development of Proportional Reasoning and the Ratio Concept: Part I—Differentiation of Stages, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 11, pp. 217–253, 1980.
19.
TourniareF.PulosS., Proportional Reasoning: A Review of the Literature, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 16, pp. 181–204, 1985.
20.
NussbaumJ.NovickS., Brainstorming the Classroom to Invent a Model: A Case Study, School Science Review, 62, pp. 771–778, 1981.
21.
OsborneR. J.WittrockM. C., The Generative Learning Model and Its Implications for Science Education, Studies in Science Education, 12, pp. 59–87, 1985.
22.
DriverR.OldhamV., A Constructivist Approach to Curriculum Development, Studies in Science Education, 13, pp. 105–122, 1986.
23.
InhelderB.PiagetJ., The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence, Basic Books, New York, 1958.
24.
MellarH. G., Modelling Students' Thinking on a Proportional Reasoning Task, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 22, pp. 111–119, 1991.
25.
FraserR.BurkhardtH.CouplandJ.PhillipsR.PimmD.RidgwayJ., Learning Activities and Classroom Roles With and Without the Microcomputer, ITMA Collaboration, Shell Centre for Mathematical Education, University of Nottingham, England, 1983.
