Beynon, Meurig. (2009) Constructivist computer science education reconstructed. Innovations in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, Vol.8 (No.2). pp. 73-90. ISSN 1473-7507

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Abstract

The merits of Empirical Modelling (EM) principles and tools as a constructivist approach to computer science
education are illustrated with reference to ways in which they have been used in teaching topics related to the
standard computer science curriculum. The products of EM are interactive models – construals - that serve a
sense-making role. Model-building proceeds in an incremental fashion through the construction of networks of
definitions that reflect the observables, dependencies and agents associated with a current situation. The three
principal case studies discussed (teaching bubblesort, solving Sudoku puzzles, and recognising groups from
their abstract multiplication tables) highlight respects in which EM accounts for aspects of computing that
cannot be effectively addressed by thinking primarily in terms of abstractions, procedures and mechanisms.
The discussion of EM as a constructivist approach to computer science education is set in the context of an
analysis of constructivism in computer science published by Ben-Ari in 2001. Reconciling EM's constructivist
epistemology with this analysis involves recognising its pretensions to a broader view of computer science.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Computer Science
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Computer science -- Study and teaching, Constructivism (Education), Sudoku, Group theory
Journal or Publication Title:	Innovations in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences
Publisher:	Loughborough University, Department of Information Science
ISSN:	1473-7507
Official Date:	June 2009
Dates:	Date Event June 2009 Published
Volume:	Vol.8
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 73-90
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/37009

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