While working on the definition of notional machines at Dagstuhl, we realized that there might be different forms of notional machines! Just to streamline my own thinking, I am describing four different forms here. This post is not meant to be complete! Let me reiterate that our current understanding of a notional machine is: “A […]
Programming and direct instruction
Direct instruction is hot! Whereas in the 1990s we heard a lot about discovering learning, we are now slowly seeing a renewed interest in the ‘direct instruction model’ in the Netherlands. Both in language and in mathematics there is a new interest in rote practice of knowledge (“stampen“). As that is not a surprise, since […]
The tyranny of fun in education
Fun in education is important! We hear this opinion a lot, and yesterday I saw a tweet from “Richard Feynman”* and this made me think about how bad of an idea this is. If you’re not having fun, you’re not learning. There’s a pleasure in finding things out. pic.twitter.com/NDBn2awrNL — Prof. Feynman (@ProfFeynman) October 10, 2018 […]
Thinking out of the Box: Comparing metaphors for variables in programming education
A long time ago, almost a year now, we had the opportunity to conduct a research study at Nemo Science Live. With Science Live, researchers can perform small scientific experiments on visitors of the Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam, which is a great and relatively easy way to find participants. If you are a Dutch researcher […]
Programming for blind kids
Programming for everyone, that is my motto these days. And when I say all kids, I mean all kids. It is easy to think of all kids, but forget about kids with disabilities. One group of kids for whom it is really hard to program is kids that are blind and visually impaired. And I am […]
