Programming as mathematical narrative Export

@article{citeulike:532550, abstract = {This paper describes a narrative-oriented approach to the design of a computational system and a set of activities for mathematical learning. Mathematics and narrative would appear to be antithetical. Our central contention is that programming can offer a key to resolving the tension between the different representational structures of narrative and mathematical formalism. We see programming as an expressive activity, a form of writing or composing, embedded in social contexts and used purposefully to carry out actions. We claim that programming affords a narrative form for representing mathematical meanings; that learning to program can be concerned with the development of cognitive schemas, and perhaps even the transformation of social relationships. In the course of portraying our approach, we make a distinction between the epistemic-cognitive elements of narrative and the affective elements. We believe that this distinction will be of value in other domains as well. We propose a link between narrative theories of learning and constructionist traditions, specifically the notion of situated abstraction. This link suggests the possibility of further dialogue between the two academic communities. We begin by giving a brief account of the use of narrative in educational theory. We draw on two case studies derived from the WebLabs project (www.weblabs.eu.com) which combines a programming environment, ToonTalk and a web-based collaboration system designed to foster mathematical thinking and expression. We then describe our narrative-oriented framework, by using it to analyze both the environment and the experimental situations described.}, author = {Mor, Yishay and Noss, Richard}, citeulike-article-id = {532550}, journal = {International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning (IJCEELL)}, keywords = {collaboration, constructionism, ijceell, ijtme2006, learning, mathematics, narrative, programming}, posted-at = {2006-03-07 17:14:22}, priority = {2}, title = {Programming as mathematical narrative}, year = {submitted} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:532550 L3 - citeulike-article-id:532550 N2 - This paper describes a narrative-oriented approach to the design of a computational system and a set of activities for mathematical learning. Mathematics and narrative would appear to be antithetical. Our central contention is that programming can offer a key to resolving the tension between the different representational structures of narrative and mathematical formalism. We see programming as an expressive activity, a form of writing or composing, embedded in social contexts and used purposefully to carry out actions. We claim that programming affords a narrative form for representing mathematical meanings; that learning to program can be concerned with the development of cognitive schemas, and perhaps even the transformation of social relationships. In the course of portraying our approach, we make a distinction between the epistemic-cognitive elements of narrative and the affective elements. We believe that this distinction will be of value in other domains as well. We propose a link between narrative theories of learning and constructionist traditions, specifically the notion of situated abstraction. This link suggests the possibility of further dialogue between the two academic communities. We begin by giving a brief account of the use of narrative in educational theory. We draw on two case studies derived from the WebLabs project (www.weblabs.eu.com) which combines a programming environment, ToonTalk and a web-based collaboration system designed to foster mathematical thinking and expression. We then describe our narrative-oriented framework, by using it to analyze both the environment and the experimental situations described. JF - International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning (IJCEELL) TI - Programming as mathematical narrative KW - collaboration KW - constructionism KW - ijceell KW - ijtme2006 KW - learning KW - mathematics KW - narrative KW - programming AU - Mor, Yishay AU - Noss, Richard PY - submitted/// ER -