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2005/2006 CeNTRE Seminars

Our 2005/6 Seminar Programme is on the theme of:

Robotics in Schools: research and teaching perspectives

Robots and Randomness

'What is randomness? How can we experience it? How can we define it?'

Michele Cerulli, Institute for Educational Technology, Italian National Research Council, Genova
Tuesday 14 March 2006 - 4.30pm - MultiMedia Lab1  

 

This seminar reports on a long term experiment concerning the introduction of 7th grade pupils to the concept of randomness. The approach is based on a variety of representations of the concept of randomness, coherently with the historical evolution of the concept. The employed representations are based on ad hoc designed Lego robots. Pupils play with, explore, and study the robots focusing on the key question "is this random or not?”. The results of the activities, with related reflections and class discussions, are reported in a class encyclopaedia which is developed as a joint enterprise by the pupils.

This seminar is the second in a series and will include examples illustrating how pupils' vision of randomness and random events evolved by means of the proposed activities.

Michele Cerullihas worked mainly in the field of technology in mathematics education, writing a PhD thesis on the use of symbolic manipulator to introduce pupils to algebra and to theoretical thinking. He collaborated with the London Knowledge Lab for the WebLabs project, focusing on the educational integrated use of Lego robots and computers. At the moment he is working within the Kaleidoscope Network for the TELMA group and for the JEIRP "Learning Patterns for the Design and Deployment of Mathematical Games".

 

'Children building and experimenting with robots - case studies and reflections'

Sue Johnsotn-Wilder, Centre for Mathematics Education, The Open University and OU Robotics Outreach Group

Tuesday 22nd November 2005 - 4.30pm – MultiMedia Lab1

 

 

Colleagues working with children and robotics aspire to address a variety of issues Including creativity, collaboration, raising aspirations towards ICT and engineering-based careers and motivating school mathematics. In addition, many children who are otherwise struggling at school find a long term project such as involvement in robotics sustaining. In this seminar, I will present some case studies of work done with children using robots and reflect on the outcomes in the light of the aspirations.

This seminar is the first in a series and will include a demonstration and opportunity briefly to try out the programming language and lego kit used by the pupils in the case studies.

 

Joint Seminar

CeNTRE for New Technologies Research in Education and Pedagogy Thematic Group

New Literacies for New Technologies

Dr Julia Davis, University of Sheffield

Wednesday 8 March 2006 - 12.30 - 1.30pm MultiMedia Lab1 This Seminar was postponed due to illness and will be rescheduled.

The Seminar draws on social accounts of literacy to explore the growing rise of blogging and other new collaborative online practice.

Dr Julia Davis is a member of the Literacy Research Centre at the School of Education, University of Sheffield where her teaching mainly centres on the MA and Ed.D Literacy and Language programmes.