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Trans-constructionist Prototyping with a Rare Vintage

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Educational Robotics in the Context of the Maker Movement (Edurobotics 2018)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 946))

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Abstract

The constructionist philosophy has a flaw that makes it anti-educational. The flaw lies in the notion, cf. constructivism, that physical objects are information sources. This cannot be true. Physical entities must be mental compositions before they may become physical constructions. Papert’s idea of an ‘object to think with’ is unsound: deriving concepts from percepts leads to error. The realm of number shows this. Thinking about objects, au contraire can be scientifically productive. For this, the notion of a ‘physical entity’ must encompass the symbolic representation of language. A logico-scientific evolution-based proof shows that perception offers a false view of reality; revealed and overcome through the thoughtful use of technology. On this foundation, a prototype design and technology course for primary school with an emphasis on robotics based on the LEGO® system was developed. Outlined and discussed, it is compared and contrasted with work from the MIT Media Lab.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The British School of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Micheál Ó Dúill

Authors
  1. Micheál Ó Dúill
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Correspondence to Micheál Ó Dúill .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Michele Moro

  2. European Lab for Educational Technology, Edumotiva, Sparti, Greece

    Dimitris Alimisis

  3. Department of Computer Control and Management Engineering, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Roma, Italy

    Luca Iocchi

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Ó Dúill, M. (2020). Trans-constructionist Prototyping with a Rare Vintage. In: Moro, M., Alimisis, D., Iocchi, L. (eds) Educational Robotics in the Context of the Maker Movement. Edurobotics 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 946. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18141-3_4

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