Hi Bob,
I sure hope you get this message. Hey, let me know if you don't. ;-)
You had mentioned whether or not you should attempt programming in your
computer course this Fall. I think it is an excellent suggestion given
the computer set up you have. I would recommend that you use UCBLogo
written at UC Berkeley by Brian Harvey. It's free and it's available for
both Mac and PC platforms (and Unix as well, but I doubt you have any
Unix machines!). If you have an internet account, there is a newsgroup
comp.lang.logo which Brian Harvey reads and contributes to, so it is
easy to get lots of help from either the author or other participants.
(Matter of fact, I'm going to meet Brian next week when I'm up at
Berkeley for the workshop I'm attending.)
Searching the web last week for resources for Logo (I'm considering
starting off my computer course this fall with a brief unit on turtle
graphics) I found the ULTIMATE Logo resource. It is a site called the
Logo Foundation. The following text is some of the material I have
quoted from the source which makes persuasive arguments for teaching
programming, and especially Logo.
I recommend you visit that Web site.
Good Luck,
Sheila
******************(text file Why_Logo.txt follows)******************
The following info, plus LOTS more (including more justification for
teaching programming, and specifically Logo, books, software--both
commercial and share/freeware--videos, articles, newsletters and other
links) can all be found at the Website for
The Logo Foundation  http://el.www.media.mit.edu/groups/logo-foundation/
Research on Logo:
                             Effects and Efficacy
                                      by
                   Douglas H. Clements and Julie S. Meredith
                    State University of New York at Buffalo
First grader Darius never talked aloud, was slow to complete his work, and
had been placed in a "socialization group" to "draw him out of his shell."
When the computer arrived, Darius spent nearly 90 minutes working with the
Logo turtle on his first day. Immediately thereafter, his teacher noticed
that he was completing seatwork without prompting. Then he would slide his
seat over to the computer and watch others program in Logo. A bit later, he
stood beside the computer, talking and making suggestions. When others had
difficulties, he was quick to show them the solution. Soon, others started
getting help with Logo from him. In brief, Darius moved up to the high
reading group, skipping the third preprimer. He began completing twice as
much work per day as he had previously. He participated eagerly during
class discussions and--as a "crowning achievement"--was given a 10 minute
"time out" because he wouldn't stop talking.1 Are such results merely happy
circumstances, or replicable benefits of certain Logo environments? What
does the research say? Logo research has a short but rich and varied
history. While there is no one "effect" of Logo, there are many benefits
and difficulties that should be researched. Fortunately, there has been
enough research done to form a foundation on which we can build. This
review will attempt to sample a few key topics within this
foundation--mathematics, problem-solving, language and reading, and
social/emotional development.
Mathematics
The Logo programming language was first developed to help children learn
math.(2, 3<--a foot note reference which is not available in this file)
Much of the literature on Logo has presumed that exposure to math concepts
alone while using Logo increases math achievement. Research on this topic
is inconclusive. Classroom observations have shown that children do use
certain math concepts in Logo programming. Children as young as first
grade apply such mathematical notions as number, arithmetic, estimation,
measure, patterning, proportion, and symmetry to their Logo work.(4 footnt)
Similar observations of intermediate grade children indicate that Logo may
make it possible to explore some math concepts earlier than is currently
believed. (5,6 footnt) Although traditional obstacles to understanding math
concepts do not disappear, we should not underestimate the achievement of
the children in Logo environments.(7,8 footnt)So, Logo enhances mathematics
achievement. We don't know, however, whether any type of exposure leads to
increased achievement, as measured by test scores. Some researchers report
significant gains(9 footnt) and even dramatic learning changes for as
many as 10% of students.(10 footnt) Others, though, reveal mixed results
(11 footnt) or no significant differences between Logo and control groups
.(12-15 footnt) Maybe Logo provides practice only with limited topics.
Possibly achievement tests assess only limited areas of mathematical
knowledge. Or perhaps the "exposure hypothesis" is not fully adequate,
especially given the brief exposure provided by most of these studies.
In contrast, exposure alone is not what the developers of Logo had in mind.
They intended it to be used as a conceptual framework for learning math. As
students program in Logo, they explore mathematical relationships. They play
with angles, numbers, and variables. They think about their actions. This
permits them to build up initial ideas and experiences that serve as a
framework for learning formal mathematics.
Geometry
Geometry provides an example. Children's initial ideas about shapes and
space are based on action.16 Logo activities designed to help children build
on their intuitive ideas about paths may help them develop their ideas of
two-dimensional shapes. 17, 18 For example, having students visually scan
the side of a building or walk a straight path will give students experience
with straightness. But students can be made more aware of this idea with
path activities in Logo. It is easy to have students use the turtle to
discover that a straight path is one that has no turning.
Also, Logo can help children learn higher levels of geometric thinking. A
husband-and-wife research team, the van Hieles, discovered that students'
thinking develops through a series of levels.19
Visual level: Students see shapes as "wholes" only.
Descriptive level: Students can describe the properties of shapes (a
rectangle has four square corners and opposites sides that are equal and
parallel).
Analytical level: Students generalize the logical relations that exist among
figures and their parts and reason deductively (all squares are rectangles).
According to the van Hieles, students don't move from one level to the next
without instruction that passes through a series of phases. If instead
teachers use concepts and language from a higher level, students will merely
memorize instead of understanding important relationships.
Using the Logo turtle helps students progress to higher levels of geometric
thinking. Students at the visual level are able only to identify examples
(rectangles "look like doors"). In Logo, however, students can be asked to
make a sequence of commands (a procedure) to draw a rectangle. In writing a
rectangle procedure, the students must describe and analyze the rectangle
and reflect on how its parts are put together. If the students are asked to
write a more general rectangle procedure, they must construct a definition
for a rectangle that the computer understands. They then begin to build
intuitive knowledge about defining a rectangle. This knowledge can later be
formalized into an abstract definition.
......
Such findings have important educational implications. Research shows that
most students do not monitor their own problem solving, from early childhood
to the college level.64 After they begin working on a problem, they rarely
pause to see if the procedures they are using will actually help them solve
it. They do not check their work for mistakes and they believe little can be
learned from such errors. Why does Logo help? In computer programming,
errors are unavoidable. Ideally, "experience with computer programming leads
children more effectively than any other activity to `believe in' debugging
. . . children learn that the teacher too is a learner, and that everyone
learns from mistakes."3 Thus, the act of debugging Logo programs that do not
quite do what was intended provides students with valuable experience in
using their monitoring skills.
In appropriate Logo environments, students learn to use monitoring in and
out of Logo. In one study, students were given problems that purposely
misled via extra or irrelevant information. For example, "When Albert was 6
years old, his sister was 3 times as old as he. Now he is 10 years old and
he figures that his sister is 30 years old. How old do you think his sister
will be when Albert is 12 years old"? Logo students were more likely to find
and fix the error in the problem.63 Overall, one of the more consistent
research findings is an increase in monitoring following Logo
experience.65-67 It is important to repeat that each of these studies
employed mediation; furthermore, this mediation was based on a theory of
human problem solving. In addition, assessment was based on processes
hypothesized to be affected by the Logo experience, rather than, for
example, routine textbook problems.
......
**********************(new article)***************************************
Memories of Logo
The following message appeared recently on the UseNet newsgroup
comp.lang.logo.
Article 2474 in comp.lang.logo:
From: kolean@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu (Kylie Elizabeth Olean)
Subject: Memories of Logo
Hi, I'm not a teacher, nor do I really have anything to do with Logo
anymore. I saw this newsgroup, though, and couldn't help but subscribe. My
first experience with computers was on an Apple IIe, using Logo. That turtle
was the coolest thing when I was seven or eight. I read a post where someone
said that Logo was too difficult for younger children to comprehend. I
seriously disagree with that statement. I started learning Logo in second
grade. It was what piqued my interest in computers.
I'm now working as a technical assistant in my university's computer
resource center. I help people with problems they're having with computers.
And I kind of owe it all to Logo. Of course, I probably would have
eventually gotten interested in computers, even without it. I would have
started later when I learned BASIC in jr. high. But I still have very fond
memories of that turtle. And I just wanted to share that.
--- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 10
---------------