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LogiX

We re-imagined Computer Science Education through the pedagogy of play.

Why?

55% of schools in India had not had access to computers in 2022, as to the UDISE report

... and this percentage counts only the lack of ICT bare-bones, but not the limitations like fluctuating electricity, little-to-no internet, and unavailability of a good Curriculum. All in all, while computer science education has become a necessity in this increasingly tech-driven world, most students in India find themselves devoid of appropriate infrastructure, understanding and fascination towards Information Technology.

So technically, we could note three problems here:

  • A lack of infrastructure that includes unavailability of computers as well as a proper curriculum.

  • Declining interests among kids towards Information Technology and the curiosity to experiment

  • And third being the side effect of first two - i.e. lack of understanding among students about the basics of computer science.

How?

Our aim is to develop a learning experience that enables children to develop holistically.

We believed in "Play Centric learning" that it can make fundamental yet complex & abstract computer science concepts easier to understand. Encouraging learning by making and promoting interaction with tangible forms to foster a creative learning process for children to prepare them for the endless possibilities of the future.

What we would like to focus upon?

Computer science (CS) has grown to become a necessary 21$ century skill and it is essential to be aware of the fundamentals. By combining the understandings of benefits of play-centric learning with the curriculum of CS basics, we intend to bridge the gaps in accessibility and learning.

What we know?

Learning by play is a foundation for the cognitive, creative, and engaged development in children, that aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Quality Education and the National Education Policy 2020, India.

It is essential to bring in child-centred pedagogies at the heart of the education system.

So we grabbed our old
Middle school syllabus

... to inquire more about existing lessons and recommended topics from experts - specifically for grades 6th to 8th and to see how it's working out. We circulated a simple form with all the important topics that are introduced in middle school. The intent was to plot a relationship between these Computer Science topics, student interests, learning & understandings.
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Surprisingly (and unfortunately), most of the markings were on the Logic Gates. *THE LOGIC GATES* which forms components for ALU - the mathematical brain of the computer!
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So at this point of the project, we were already crossed with the first topic that we had to choose to begin with - which further helped us to define and start experimenting with our problem statement.

How may a tangible artefact better aid the understanding of Computer Science Fundamentals such as Logic Gates for middle school children in grades 6 to 8?

"At one point, our aspirations were really high!"
And to make sense of all of it - we broke down our idea into a journey of how a kid would explore this "toy". This won't only helped us to look from the lens of being a student but also as a design team to focus & work on every possible interactions in that journey.

1
Basic Theory :
a) Binary Numbers
b) Adding Binary
c) Truth Table

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2
Bridging Concepts :
Analogically understanding the Logix set of boxes

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3
Playing :
Trying & Experimenting with niche examples of Logic Gates

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4
Reflecting :
Going back to the learnings from this toy while applying Logic Gates in real coding.

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Playing

1 + 1 = 10
Prototyping a simple calculator

To add some substance to our experiment - without getting lost - we planned on prototyping a simple calculator for One + One which is definitely Two. But when we add in binary, since we are dealing with only 1 & 0, "Two" is represented as "10".

So what are we looking at? How logic gates can act as a calculator?


01
Input Combinations
There could be only four possible combinations, where three of them matches the boolean logic of XOR Gate.
02
Input Combination for One + One = Two
This kind of circuit is what's know as "Half-Adder." Here, the XOR gate gives "0" (false) output - while the connected AND Gate will gave "1" (true) output. As a result we will get "10" aka Two in decimal units.

Prototyping Goals

So basically we need to make models of AND Gate & the XOR Gate which would combine to form a gate called "Half-Adder" that would add binary numbers.

But first thing first, The binary digits here are represented by marble balls. Single marble ball is "1". And no marble ball is "0".

AND Gate

Input
Output
No Marble
No Marble
One Marble
No Marble
Two Marble
One Marble
High Fidelity Prototype
Low Fidelity Prototype

What's Next?

Just called Piyush to play with this toy.

Personally, this project was the first time when I was Prototyping continuously to Research. A technical term that explains this is what's called as "Research through Design."

We have been calling a lot of other kids like Piyush (as in this picture) to play around and express how are they feeling. And same time - working on those feedbacks to quickly create more prototypes.
While I get more inputs, atleast enough to update here - you can also tag along by providing your Email Address here and I will send you a notification about further updates.

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rachitmathur00@gmail.com