Artifact : Independent Study

Independent Study                         Standards AECT : 5.1, 5.2 & 5.3 

Description: During the summer semester of 2014, I conducted research on two programming languages: Alice (Carnegie Mellon University, CMU)  and Scratch (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT). Also, I analyzed the differences between, and similarities of, Scratch and Alice. The research was conducted under Dr. Joseph Kush, for one of the elective courses, GDIT 509: Independent Study.

Goal: The goal of this independent study was to investigate the two educational programming languages CMU Alice and MIT Scratch, to lay the groundwork for my dissertation research.

Expectation:  The expectations of independent study were threefold: (1) Read and conduct an extensive literature review to understand the basics of visual programming for education, (2) then create taxonomies, and (3) use heuristics to discover the similarities and differences of the two platforms.

Reflection: Before beginning Independence study, I already familiar with educational programming language, but I hadn’t researched about the difference and similarities CMU Alice and MIT Scratch. It was a great opportunity for me to began comparing to enhance my learning in this specific part and explore new features of these codings tools. After completing the Independence study, I now explored and developed my dissertation.  Dr. Kush and I met weekly to discuss CMU Alice and MIT Scratch, and I attended a workshop at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on 17 May in Boston. Also, I attended another conference at MIT on 6–9 August. With Dr. Kush, I designed some animations with MIT Scratch and CMU Alice after coming back from the August workshop. I signed up for new account on MIT Scratch to share my projects with Scratch members. The independent study expanded my literature review on MIT Scratch, CMU Alice, and other programming languages; developed my programming abilities to learn more; and provided an opportunity to advance my thoughts toward my dissertation topic.  I will encourage my prospective students to take Independence study to research with their interested topic to improve their research skill level.