Transcript Educational Module Proposal Template

Alice in Legoland
Team Leader:
Denise McBroom
Team Members: Laura Guilfoyle, Shirley Hall, Peter Mlot,
Theresa Hopkins, Nellie Matlock
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No.
EEC-0502174. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.
Engineering Design
1.
2.
3.
4.
The existing module addresses engineering by
linking it to the process of designing a computer
program.
Specific questions relating to computer
programming are included in the pre-test and posttest.
The Concept Quiz includes matching relevant
programming terms to their definitions to assess the
students’ knowledge of computer programming.
The Programming Pioneer activity encourages
students to research famous computer engineers
and learn more about engineering through these
role models.
Scientific Inquiry
1.
2.
3.
4.
There are ample opportunities for inquiry/discovery
activities in the experiments with Legos and with
the Alice computer software program.
In the first activity, students must work together to
decode instructions to create a specific figure with
Legos.
In the second activity, students are asked to create
their own Lego figure and then create the
programming code.
In the Alice computer software program, students
discover the importance of sequencing and the
possibility of obtaining different results by changing
the programming code.
Ethics



There are questions concerning ethics, as it
relates to computer programming, in the
pretest.
Ethics is also addressed in the discussion
questions. For example, “What would
happen if Alice was sold to the public, or any
other computer program, without being
tested first?”
This discussion gives an opportunity to
discuss a variety of ethics issues, including
“bugging”.
Adaptation to Primary Grades
1.
2.
The Alice computer software program would need to be
modified, using pictorial instructions as well as written
instructions, for it to be suitable for the lower primary grades.
A modification of Alice would be the program Kidpix.
The Legos instructions would need to be made simpler, to
indicate directions rather than x and y coordinates, for the
primary grades.
3. The Legos could also be used for symbolic
representation of verbal commands to show
sequencing, even in kindergarden. Also, snap
cubes could be used to represent Legos or 1x1
binary codes which would be easier to
manipulate for children in the primary grades.
Snap cubes are inexpensive as well.
Resource List

New Way Things Work by Daniel Macaduley
and Neil Ardley



Magic School Bus, Program A: Book About
Computers, by Nancy White
What is a Scientist, by Barbara Lehn
Computer Graphic and Animation by Asha
Kalbag

Learning Computer Programming,
CyberRookies Series by Mary Farrell
Adaptation to High School



The module could be used as in introduction
to basic computer programming at the high
school level.
After working with the Alice program,
students could develop their own interactive
3-D computer program to accompany a story
of their choosing.
There could be more in-depth discussions and
debates on ethics in computer technology.
Module Enhancement



Lists of more books, Internet and computer
software resources would be helpful on the
topics introduced in the module, categorized
by grade level.
Develop teachers’ notes, including more
detailed assessment tools and rubrics for the
module.
Emphasize the cross-curriculum links in the
module to art, language arts, social studies,
math and science.