skip to main content
10.1145/2307096.2307137acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesidcConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Math on a sphere: using public displays to support children's creativity and computational thinking on 3D surfaces

Published: 12 June 2012 Publication History

Abstract

Math on a Sphere (MoS) is a newly developed Web-based environment that enables children to imagine, program, and share creative designs on a public spherical display, the "Science on a Sphere" system created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The MoS software, similar in spirit to the Logo language, was installed at an exhibit located in the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley and at the Fiske Planetarium at University of Colorado, Boulder. Twenty-five children ages 8 to 13 in two cohorts tested the MoS software during a half-day workshop held at the Lawrence Hall. In addition to using the MoS software to create beautiful and original works of art, children also engaged in hands-on crafts and inquiry-based math activities to further promote learning of spherical geometry and computational thinking. MoS software workshop had a positive impact on children's engagement, but had mixed results about their understanding of geometry as evidenced by direct observations and results from pre/post-surveys, which are reported here.

References

[1]
Abelson, H. and diSessa, A. 1980. Turtle Geometry. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
[2]
Basman, A.; Redick, M.; and Eisenberg, M. 2012. Math on a Sphere: Toward Public Control of Public Displays. (manuscript in preparation.)
[3]
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. 2009. Learning and teaching early math: the learning trajectories approach. Taylor & Francis. Clements, D. H. & Battista, M. T. (1989) Learning of Geometric concepts in a Logo Environment. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 20, pp. 450--467.
[4]
Hein, G. 1998. Learning in the Museum. Routledge.
[5]
Khasawneh, A. A. 2009. Assessing Logo programming among Jordanian seventh grade students through turtle geometry, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40:5, 619--639
[6]
Papert, S.1980. Mindstorms. NY: Basic Books

Cited By

View all
  • (2023)Characterizing Child–Computer–Parent Interactions during a Computer-Based Coding Game for 5- to 7-Year-OldsEducation Sciences10.3390/educsci1302016413:2(164)Online publication date: 3-Feb-2023
  • (2023)12 Ways to Empower: Designing for Children’s Digital AutonomyProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580935(1-27)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
  • (2023)Investigating primary school children’s embodied expression of programming conceptsInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2023.10057436(100574)Online publication date: Jun-2023
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Math on a sphere: using public displays to support children's creativity and computational thinking on 3D surfaces

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Other conferences
    IDC '12: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
    June 2012
    399 pages
    ISBN:9781450310079
    DOI:10.1145/2307096
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

    Sponsors

    • didactalab: didactalab
    • IMIS: Institut für Multimediale und Interaktive Systeme

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 12 June 2012

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. computational thinking
    2. logo
    3. math on a sphere
    4. public displays
    5. spherical geometry

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Funding Sources

    Conference

    IDC '12
    Sponsor:
    • didactalab
    • IMIS

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 172 of 578 submissions, 30%

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)10
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
    Reflects downloads up to 20 Jan 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2023)Characterizing Child–Computer–Parent Interactions during a Computer-Based Coding Game for 5- to 7-Year-OldsEducation Sciences10.3390/educsci1302016413:2(164)Online publication date: 3-Feb-2023
    • (2023)12 Ways to Empower: Designing for Children’s Digital AutonomyProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580935(1-27)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
    • (2023)Investigating primary school children’s embodied expression of programming conceptsInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2023.10057436(100574)Online publication date: Jun-2023
    • (2023)Centering and decentering children in computing through joint activity at a computational science exhibitInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2022.10056035:COnline publication date: 1-Mar-2023
    • (2022)Robotik Programlamanın Ön Lisans Öğrencilerinin Bilgi İşlemsel Düşünme Becerisi Gelişimine EtkisiThe Effect of Robotics Programming on the Computational Thinking Skill Development of Associate Degree StudentsAfyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi10.32709/akusosbil.91947924:2(480-494)Online publication date: 27-Jun-2022
    • (2021)Characterising computational thinking in mathematics education: a literature-informed Delphi studyResearch in Mathematics Education10.1080/14794802.2020.185210423:2(159-187)Online publication date: 28-Jan-2021
    • (2020)Adults' and Children's Mental Models for Gestural Interactions with Interactive Spherical DisplaysProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376468(1-12)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
    • (2019)Do user-defined gestures for flatscreens generalize to interactive spherical displays for adults and children?Proceedings of the 8th ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays10.1145/3321335.3324941(1-7)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2019
    • (2014)Connected messagesProceedings of the 2014 conference on Interaction design and children10.1145/2593968.2610450(193-196)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2014

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Media

    Figures

    Other

    Tables

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media