1987 Are Microworlds Over-rated? ACEC

PAPER PROPOSAL FOR A.C.E.C. 1987

COLIN FOX and LIDDY NEVILE,
Melbourne.

ARE MICROWORLDS OVER-RATED?

In Mindstorms (1), Seymour Papert talked about childrenusing computers to think about powerful ideas. This has, inthe last decade, been interpreted many times with the most popular understanding being that if children "do turtle geometry" they will some how be "better."

In the last two years however, the attitude has changedamong many of those who are involved in research with Logoand children. The original prediction is making more senseas the difficulties which teachers encounter with bare Logoare becoming more apparent.

In particular, those considering the use of Logo inconnection with mathematics education have been veryconcerned with the question of building appropriatemicroworlds for children.

There is a small internationally based group of Logo/maths folk who meet each year to report on their work and shareideas in this area. They include mathematics educators fromEngland, France, Germany, Canada, the United States,Australia who have in recent years shared their work andtried each others techniques in their own contexts.

This group of people has accepted that turtle geometry is anexample only of the use of Logo, and have sought other powerful computing ambiances for children. They have theirown definitions of microworlds, but there is a certaincommonality which they share. The fringe debates areconcerned with developing epistemologies and such questionsas whether the users should be able to access the underlyingLogo; whether microworlds should be accessable only withclassical mathematical terminogoly; etc. These issues arenot the concern of this paper.

In this paper we will consider the role of microworlds in mathematics education with local examples as well as somefrom around the world. We will consider the use of microworlds as vehicles for teacher development, and howmicroworlds might be designed.

1Mindstorms, Computers., children and Powerful Ideas, Harvester Press, 1981.

In the sessionwe will demonstrate some of the microworlds which have been used, and discuss recent developments in this area, especially, as reported at the next meeting of the Logo and Mathematics Education Group in Montreal inJuly.