Sculpting Behavior

For over a century, educators and constructivist theorists have argued that children learn by actively forming and testing – constructing – theories about how the world works. Recent efforts in the design of “tangible user interfaces” (TUIs) for learning have sought to bring together interaction models like direct manipulation and pedagogical frameworks like constructivism to make new, often complex, ideas salient for young children. Tangible interfaces attempt to eliminate the distance between the computational and physical world by making behavior directly manipulable with one’s hands. In the past, systems for children to model behavior have been either intuitive-but-simple, e.g. curlybot or complex-but-abstract, e.g. LEGO Mindstorms. In order to develop a system that supports a user’s transition from intuitive-but-simple constructions to constructions that are complex-but-abstract, I draw upon constructivist educational theories, particularly Bruner’s theories of how learning progresses through enactive then iconic and then symbolic representations.

The Topobo system is a class of tools that helps children transition from simple-but-intuitive exploration to abstract-and-flexible exploration. The system is designed to facilitate mental transitions between different representations of ideas, and between different tools. A modular design approach, with an inherent grammar, helps people make such transitions. With Topobo, children use enactive knowledge, e.g. knowing how to walk, as the intellectual basis to understand a scientific domain, e.g. engineering and robot locomotion. Queens, backpacks, Remix and Robo add various abstractions to the system, and extend the tangible interface. Children use Topobo to transition from hands-on knowledge to theories that can be tested and reformulated, employing a combination of enactive, iconic and symbolic representations of ideas.

Biography

Hayes Raffle is an award-winning product and interaction designer working to combine the simplicity of traditional object-design with the flexibility of digital systems. He is a Staff Interaction Designer for Special Projects at Google, and is Principal of Topobo LLC, where he creates new educational toys.

With over a dozen years of professional and academic experience, Hayes' expertise includes industrial design, human-computer interaction, fine art, and cognitive science. He completed his B.A. cum laudein fine art at Yale, and his Ph.D. and M.S. at the MIT Media Lab where he invented new technologies for artistic and musical composition, materials for tangible interpersonal communication and toys for children to learn complex ideas through play. Placing high value on both functionality and aesthetics, he specializes in approaching problems with refreshing solutions

Personal Websites

http://www.hayesraffle.com/

http://www.topobo.com/

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