Compurers Educ. Vol. 18. No. l-3, pp. l-9, 1992 Printed zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA in Great Britain 0360-1315/92 $5.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press plc REASONING SUPPORTED BY COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS JOAN BLISS,‘* JON OGBORN,’ RICHARD BOOHAN,’ JONATHAN BRIGGS,~ TIM BROSNAN,* DEREK BROUGH,~ HARVEY MELLAR,* zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB ROB MILLER,~ CAROLINENASH,* CATHY RODGERS’ and BABIS SAKONIDIS’ ’ King’s College London, University of London, London WC2R 2LS, 21nstitute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WCIH OAL, ‘Kingston Polytechnic, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames KTl 2EE and 41mperial College, University of London, South Kensington SW7 2AZ, England Abstract-This paper sets out the work of the Tools for Exploratory Learning Programme within the ESRC Initiative Information Technology in Education. The research examines young secondary children’s reasoning with computational tools. We distinguish between exploratory and expressive modes of learning, that is, interaction with another’s model and creation of one’s own model, respectively. The research focuses on reasoning, rather than learning, along three dimensions: quantitative, qualitative, and semi-quantitative. It provides a 3 x 2 classification of tasks according to modes of learning and types of reasoning. Modelling tools were developed for the study and descriptions of these are given. The research examined children’s reasoning with tools in all three dimensions looking more exhaustively at the semi-quantitative. Pupils worked either in an exploratory mode or an expressive mode on one of the following topics: Traffic, Health and Diet, and Shops and Profits. They spent 34 h individually with a researcher over 2 weeks, carrying out four different activities: reasoning without the computer; learning to manipulate first the computer then later the tool and finally carrying out a task with the modelling tool. Pupils were between 12 and 14 yr. Research questions both about children’s reasoning when working with or creating models and about the nature of the tools used are discussed. Finally an analytic scheme is set out which describes the nature of the causal and non-causal reasoning observed together with some tentative results. INTRODUCTION The Tools for Exploratory Learning Programme is part of the ESRC Initiative, Information Technology in Education, and is a development of work in the London Mental Models Group (see Appendix). The aim of the programme is to study children’s reasoning when they are interacting with different types of computer tool. Their reasoning is examined through a series of tasks in which learners are asked to work in one of two modes: either to model a situation for themselves or to explore another person’s model of a situation. So we were concerned with looking at: (i) whether interaction with tools containing representations of a domain could facilitate reasoning in that domain; (ii) whether learners can be helped to reason about a domain by representing and exploring the consequences of their own ideas about the domain. The specific focus of the research is to examine how pupils reason in tasks using tools, which together require or permit quantitative, semi-quantitative or qualitative reasoning. We have chosen to study pupils in the age range 12-14 yr. An approach to such questions requires analysis of: learning and reasoning the characterisation of different dimensions of reasoning choice of, and distinction between, different types of tools the research strategy LEARNING AND REASONING In our original proposal for the research[l] we had categorised tools as being either exploratory or expressive. Such a definition, however, became too restrictive. The focus needed to be on types of learning with tools, thus we now distinguish between exploratory and expressive modes of learning. Tools can be used in either mode. The Exploratory mode permits pupils to investigate *Author for correspondence.