C*k-\"tr,r + Ca*7-terr
EEr€s'sdu€ing
ElementarY
School
€hildren to
the Computer
by HerbertL. Dershem
Mr. HerbertL. Dershemis an AssociatePrcand ComputerScienceand
fessorof Mathematics
Mathematics.He is Chaitmanof the Department
at Hope Collegeand has
of computet Science
beenon the facully theresince1969. He is cur.
rcntly on sabbaticalleaveat Oak RidgeNational Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.He is
alsothe fathetof threebuddingyoungcomputer
scientists.all of whomarc in elementaryschool.
andJohnT, Whittle
Mr. John T. Whittle is Assistant Ptofessotof
lr4athenatics
and ComputetScienceat HopeCol'
lege wherc he hasbeen on the faculty since 1966.
He teachesmanycomputersciencecoursesthere
and hasbeenworkingon a ploiect to developa
laborctoryfor elementaryteachers.
mathematics
T H EP RE S E N T A T I O N
GH E C O I M P U T E R
I . I N TR O D U C I N T
they seethe
As the childrenenterthe classroom,
nameof the schoolandtheirclassbeingprintedon the
high.
in Iette65 centimeters
screen
displaV
computer's
facilities.After
Thisis doneusingthe TRS-80grephics
iscleared
andthe name
the nameis prinled,the screen
are
then
introduced
to the
printedagain.Thechildren
ol
{unction
of
computerby a briefdescription the
parts.
eachof the component
O FC O I \ 4 P U T I N G
II. HISTORY
A brie'fhistoryof computingdevicesis pre3enled
throughthe useof obiectswhich aredisplayedby the
presenter.
Aidsto counting6ndarithmetic
which
are:
and
discussed
be
shown
could
will providethese.
1. HANDS.Audience
pebbles
in a pouchcanbe
2. PEBBLES. Several
counted
usedto demonstratehow ancientshepherds
theirsheepto makesureall returnedto the fold at
night.
3. ABACUS. Objectswerestill usedto k€epa re'
cord o{ numbers,but placevalueswereintroduced
ot objects.
thesedevaces
4. SLIDE RULE. Instead
numbers
represent
length
to
use
Almostall of the children
5. CALCULATORS.
andtheiruseof
will be familiarwith thesedevices
numbers.
to represent
electronics
Thesedifferfrom calculators
6. COIVIPUTERS,
in{ormain theirabilityto storemorethannumerical
of instructionswith'
tion and to executea sequence
out humanintervention. Largerbrothersof the TRS'
anda pictureof sucha ma80 shouldbe mentioned
chinemightbeshown.
Thefollowingisan outlineof a presentation
to Introduce
occasrons
whichhasbeenusedon several
Betore
micro_
compLrters.
schoolclassesto
elementary
were
so
conTRS-80
likethe RadioShack
computers
to
a
compu_
broughl
classes
were
venientlvavailable,
ter centerwherethe childrenusedterminals.Recent
that the
exper;ence
with the TRS'80hasindicated
can
betaken
if
the
compuler
is
more
effective
session
described
below
The
session
into
the
classroom.
right
pre_
has
it
been
and
mode
of
operation
assumes
this
and
4K
I
BASIC
Leve'
sentedusinga TRS-80with
of FAM.
I I I . RU N NI N GA P R O G R A M
A programis rLrnwhich giveseachstudent'sage
we obtained
a Iist
in variousunits. Forour sessions
of studentnamesand birthdaysbeforethe classand
thisdatawithinthe program.Thiswat
embedded
done10 savetime by havingeachchild'sname,birthday,and ageappearon the screenin sequence.lt i5
interesting
tryingto explainto the childrenhow the
computer"knows"theirbirthdays.An exampleof
the outputfrom the AGE programis shownon
the nextpage:
69
I
rr,992 HousS
BE
S
OSF C O I M P U T
IV. APPLICATION
is givenof several
computeruses
A description
mightbe familiar'Somesuch
wilh whichthe students
we haveusedareprintingtheir parents'
applications
pavchecks,
helpinglo solvecrimes,keepingbankre_
;o;ds, storageand retrievalof transportationand lodg'
andhelping
arcade
andTV games,
inqreservations,
leadsus
application
p;ple learn.The lastmentioned
nicelyinto partV,
V . U S I N GT H E C O M P U TRE
Threeprogramsare providedfor the childrento
for the entireclass,
use. Firstthey are demonstrated
havean opportunityto indivi'
andthenthe sludents
program
Thisis donein groupsof
duallyuseeach
of the classworkson some
threewhilethe remainder
project
by the teachersuch
assigned
computer-related
or drawinga pic_
aswriringa storyaboutcomputers
ture of wayscomputersare used.
THE PROGFAI\4S
usedfor thisdemon_
Eachof the threeprograms
10usesomeabilitiesor
the students
strationrequires
in the class_
techniques
whichthey havebeenlearning
room,
The{irstis the gameot HURKLE whichis well
documentedelsewherelseeWhatTo Do After You
Fitst Book of Gamesl lt glves
Hit Retun or P.C.C.'S
system
practice
dealingwith a coordinate
the students
TRS
S0
The
good
logicalthinking
some
andrequires
array
the
given
here
keeps
is
versiono{ HU RKLE which
at all times,blinksthe posi_
of pointson the screen
convenience'
tion choseneachtime for the studenl's
picture
when
andwhere
of the HURKLE
anddrawsa
he is found.
pro'
An additiondrill is providedby the second
problems
gram.Thestudentis given10addition
chosenat randombetween
with eachof the addends
'l and 10, The numberof problems
givenandthe
by chanq'
modified
can
be
uooerlimit on the addends
in
statement
lvl
K,
respectively,
values
of
and
ing the
eitherlhe
450 ol the program.By randomselection,
is replaced
the
sum
or
the
second
addend,
lirst addend,
problem
on the
appears
mark
the
when
bv a ouestion
lf
the
provide
a
response
student
is
to
The
screen.
mes_
conqratulatory
is
correct,
an
appropriate
response
andthe nextp'oblemis given lf the
saoeis displaved
thisis dis'
indicating
is incorrect,
a message
reiponse
plavedandthe studentis givenup to threemoreat'
tempts.lf afterlour tries,the sludenthasfailedto give
the programinserlsthe correct
the correct response,
integerandtellsthe studentto "CHEcK NIYAN'
the programreporlshow
SWER".After l0 problems.
'firstattempt.
manythe studentsolvedcorrectlyon the
Thethird programdrawsa lineandasksthestu_
its lengthin cenlimeterslf the stu_
dentto estimate
is correct,the programextendscondent'sresponse
name.lf the
gratulations
by blinkingthe student's
is incorrect,
the programdrawsa linethe
response
guess
a revlsed
andrequests
lengthof the student's
estimate.
COMMENTS
hasbeengivento second
Thispresentation
with a grealdealof suc'
andthirdgradeclasses
cess.The sludentsarevery attentive,excited
andanxioustor Jurther
abouttheirexperience,
exposureto computers. Leavingthe computer
in the classroomfor a weekor morga{ter the prefor studentusein {reetime wouldbe
sentation
a goodfollow-up to this iitroductory session.
ro r."r3r? Is
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