The Structured Planning and Debugging Editor (SPADE) is a new kind of interactive programming environment in which computer programs are generated by explicitly articulating planning decisions. The design of SPADE is based upon the development of a grammar of plans from a taxonomy of basic planning techniques. The utility of this approach to…

PATN is a design for a machine problem solver which uses an augmented transition network (ATN) to represent planning knowledge. In order to explore PATN's potential as a theory of human problem solving, a linguistic approach to protocol analysis is presented. An interpretation of a protocol is taken to be a parse tree supplemented by semantic and…

An activity for secondary schools is presented and discussed which may be explored with a programmable calculator. The activity is non-standard and could not be easily explored without the use of a programmable calculator. Related activities are also discussed. Flow charts and programs for different programmable calculators are presented. (MP)

The application of the programmable calculator to evaluating complicated formulas is illustrated by considering the formula for finding the area of any triangle when only the lengths of the three sides are known. Other advantages of the programmable calculator are discussed such as freeing the student to explore more challenging problems and…

This review of the literature and annotated bibliography summarizes the available research relating to teaching programming to high school students. It is noted that, while the process of programming a computer could be broken down into five steps--problem definition, algorithm design, code writing, debugging, and documentation--current research…

Intended to be used in conjunction with a traditional curriculum, this book demonstrates the use of the computer, especially the on-line, interactive type of computer, to solve a variety of problems studied in secondary school mathematics. Each chapter presents several problems, and each problem introduces one or two concepts that must be…

The message of this article is that there are many types of problems ordinarily requiring advanced techniques or special insight to solve which can now be done as simple programming exercises on inexpensive programmable calculators. Several examples appropriate for the secondary school curriculum are given. These are: (1) evaluating polynomials;…

A problem from a course called "Introduction to Gambling" is described. A flowchart and a computer program are included. (MNS)

Software design is still a craft; techniques are based on the way things have been done, not on basic theorems or design principles. Suggests that academic software design needs to be more like a science or technology and that a taxonomy of design solutions or classification method is required. Describes two case studies. (MLW)

This project was designed to prepare curriculum materials that can be used to teach general computer literacy and rudimentary programming for grades 7 and 8. The intended audience for these materials is the grade 7 and 8 teacher who is not experienced in computer literacy or programming. Materials provided include, in separate sections for the two…

Describes five studies on educational computing: (1) word processing and writing processes in colleges; (2) simulations and problem solving for learning disabled high school students; (3) social interaction and problem solving in children using Logo and drill and practice programs; (4) computer access and flowcharting in programing instruction;…