ABSTRACT
Expectations concerning the influence of learning to program on children’s intellectual development originate in the plurality of conceptions endorsed by various models of mind. Proceeding from a general systems perspective, we formulated and tested several questions concerning the cognitive consequences of learning to program in LOGO. Research questions focused on transferable aspects of programming skills and also on the degree to which use of LOGO’s turtle geometry results in the restructuring of children’s understanding of Euclidean geometry. Measures employed in the research studies differentiated between knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. Results suggest that transferable aspects of learning LOGO hinge on the method of instruction. When mediated inquiry-based instruction was employed, children demonstrated increases in the cognitive skills associated with comprehension monitoring and with defining the nature of problem constraints. Prolonged instruction in programming apparently resulted in the development of a component of academic self-concept oriented toward computer-based learning. In all studies, turtle geometry helped students restructure their understanding of geometry according to the van Hiele framework. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how instruction in LOGO can mediate a transition between narratively and paradigmatically based reasoning.
