Interactive Problem Solving Using Logo

This book is unique in that its stress is not on the mastery of a programming language, but on the importance and value of interactive problem solving. The authors focus on several specific interest worlds: mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and games; however, their approach can serve as a model that may be applied easily to other fields as well. Those who are interested in symbolic computing will find that Interactive Problem Solving Using LOGO provides a gentle introduction from which one may move on to other, more advanced computational frameworks or more formal analysis. What is of primary importance, however, is the text's ability -- through its presentation of rich, open-ended problems -- to effectively cultivate crucial cognitive skills.

Contents: Part I: Fundamentals of LOGO. Your First Encounters With LOGO. Extending LOGO. Recursive Procedures. Recommendations and Principles for Writing Procedures. Debugging. Analysis of a Program. How Programs Communicate With the User. Names, Values, and Scope. Data Structures. Data as Programs, Programs as Data. Smaller Projects. Part II: Mathematics. Prime Numbers. The Greatest Common Divisor (GCD). Problem Solving in Mathematics. Recursive Expansion of Arithmetic Operations. Representing Numbers in Different Base Systems. Basic Rules of Arithmetic. Part III: Computer Science. Sorting. Pattern Matching. Formal Languages and Grammars. Tree Data Structures: Building a Dictionary. TOWERS OF HANOI. Software Tools for LOGO. Simulation of a Moving Camera. The Game of LIFE. Part IV: Artificial Intelligence. Problem Solving Using LOGO. The Equivalence Between Programs and Data. Production Systems. Is It a Mammal? Who Are the Children of Adam? Part V: Linguistics. Conjugating Verbs. Forming Plurals. Linguistic Explorations. Part VI: Games. TIC-TAC-TOE. Reversi. Hunting the Wumpus. HOW THE WEST WAS WON. BLACKJACK. Part VII: New Developments in Computers and Education. Extensions to the Programming Language LOGO. Object-Oriented Programming in LOGO. New Approaches to Using Computers in Education. New Approaches for Education, Psychology, and Epistemology. Appendices: LOGO Versions. LOGO Primitives Used in This Book. Utility Procedures. Conventions Used in This Book. Additional Resources.

Gerhard Fischer, Heinz-Dieter Boecker, Hal Eden