Computer science is becoming a more and more important subject for children to learn.
With computer science education, students are able to build computational thinking skills,
a problem solving approach that involves breaking down a problem, identifying problems,
creating step by step solutions, and abstracting information. However, it can be difficult
for classrooms to include computer science topics, especially in younger grades when teachers
may not know or understand the topics. The purpose of Modeler is to fill that gap, to support
the building of computational thinking skills in classrooms that aren’t computer science based.
Modeler serves to structure the experience of modeling a topic, one that might not normally be
modeled such as the relationships in a novel. This is accomplished in three steps: diagramming
the relationships through the use of different shapes, arrows, and labels; providing measurements
or changes in the relationships; and a moving or changing simulation that is created by the system
to display the relationships as defined.
For this project, I worked to define the user work flow and the user interface. This was accomplished
by talking with computer science professors at Michigan Tech to understand what steps of learning
computer science and what could be applied to other topics. The design was also based on the ideas
and feedback of the primary investigator. The design is meant to invoke the feeling of more traditional
educational software, but not feel outdated. The primary investigator was interested in a retro feel
for the design, especially during the initial stages of the design process. An important aspect of the
design was to have a place for students to reflect on their process and take notes about what they were
doing. It was not enough for them to just mindlessly experience the simulation, but to reflect on the
process.
I created an animation based on the early interface prototype to help understand the process and what
using the system could actually look like. It describes a basic photosynthesis process. This animation
was meant to help the developers better understand the relationship between pages and what different
components do. This method was chosen over a static document as the primary investigator wanted a
medium that could be shown to other people who had no understanding of the design or development
process, such as professors from other departments or high school teachers.
