Boxer

Ages	9, 10
FieldActivity	Computational Thinker
Purpose	Мини-язык для обучения
Visual_Text_Blocks	Блоки-Иконки
Dimension	2D
Openness	Открытый
Address
Ancestors	Logo
Descendants
ActiveNow	Project is closed
Remixing?	No

Guzdial, M.

Programming environments for novices. Computer science education research. 127–154 (2004).

Andrea diSessa also extended Logo, but in a diffrent direction. Rather than tune it to a specific task, he tried to think about what computation would look like if it were a real literacy as ubiquitous as text reading and writing is today. Boxer was based on a principle of naive realism: Every object in the system has an on-screen graphical representation that can be inspected, modi¯ed, and extended. For example, variables are not just names in Boxer. Creating a variable creates a named box on the screen which corresponds to that variable. Setting the variable's value changes (visibly) the contents of the corresponding box. Changing the contents of the box (with direct manipulation and typing) changes the value of the variable. Lists exist in Boxer, but so do diSessa answers the question about \What's hard about programming?" with the answer, "The interface and its relation to the language" Too much is abstract and hidden in traditional programming languages. Boxer both makes the system easy to understand (because of naive realism) and easy to apply to domains because, like LogoWriter, it plays upon similarity to applications software.

However diSessa is also answer the question with the answer, \The culture." Programming will also be challenging, but no more challenging than learning to read and write. If programming skill was something that one started at an early age, and it was something that everyone did, it would be easier for students to pick up. The interesting question is what such computational literacy means for a society. Does science and mathematics become easier to learn because everyone has the computational skills to develop models and visualizations to explore and better understand complex concepts?

DiSessa, A.A.

Changing Minds: Computers, Learning, and Literacy. MIT Press (2001).

In Boxer, DiSessa and colleagues designed a programming language that removes the abstraction and complexity inherent to most commercial languages, with the purpose of letting novice computer users engage in an experiential approach to learning through simulations, by constructing models in which patterns of design and knowledge can emerge. In his view, one of the most important benefits that programming can bring to learners is the ability to create simulations that will help them learn complex concepts in more experiential ways

• Games, I.A., Squire, K.: Design Thinking in Gamestar Mechanic: The Role of Gamer Experience on the Appropriation of the Discourse Practices of Game Designers. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on International Conference for the Learning Sciences - Volume 1. pp. 257–264 International Society of the Learning Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2008).