[Edu-sig] A case against GUIs in intro CS :-)

[Arthur]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: edu-sig-bounces at python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces at python.org] On
> Behalf Of Arthur
> Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 9:52 PM
> To: 'Kirby Urner'; 'Edu-sig'
> Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] A case against GUIs in intro CS :-)
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: edu-sig-bounces at python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces at python.org] On
> > Behalf Of Kirby Urner
> 
> If the purpose is to get to the end result, the construction on the
> screen,
> maybe the GUI approach makes sense.  If the process of getting to the
> construction is the essence of the activity, which in what I am intending
> it
> indeed is, then the more sophisticated GUI approach is clearly less
> sophisticated.

Which is the point that leads me to be
resistance/suspicions/paranoias/concerns in respect to the introduction of
technology into the classroom, more generally.

Kirby's efforts as well as my own do not attempt to entice based on their
technical sophistication.

Raw simple unadorned transparent is what makes sense in a serious effort to
make cognitive connections.  But such an approach - once it is introduced on
a computer - cannot be taken seriously, because it is raw simple transparent
and unadorned, and that's not how we use computers, these days.

HCI studies are generally designed to measure results, comfort levels, etc.
So I don't think they are likely to ever uncover the truths here, where the
results are not the point, and a certain level of discomfort (avoiding
glibness) is for the better. 

Art


> 
> Art