Explorations in theoretical computer science for kids (using paper toys)

ABSTRACT

The computational card (c-cards for short) project is a study and realization of an educational tool based on playing cards. C-cards are an educational tool to introduce children 8 to 10 (or older) to the concept of computation, seen as manipulation of symbols. The game provides teachers and learners with a physical, tangible metaphor for exploring core concepts of computer science, such as deterministic and probabilistic state machines, frequencies and probability distributions, and the central elements of Shannon's information theory, like information, communication, errors and error detection. Our idea is implemented both with paper cards and by an editor/simulator software (a prototype realized in javascript). We also designed the structure of a course in (theoretical) computer science, based on c-cards, and we will test it this summer.

REFERENCES

• 1: McNerney, T. (2000). Tangible Programming Bricks: An Approach to Making Programming Accessible to Everyone. Ph.D. Thesis.
• 2: Seymour Papert, The children's machine: rethinking school in the age of the computer, Basic Books, Inc., New York, NY, 1993
• 3: Valente, A (2003). C-cards: using paper and scissors to understand computer science. In Proc. Kolin Kolistelut - Koli Calling 2003.

INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
children education, guidelines for course design, interactive concretization tool, theoretical computer science