Abstract:

A shorter version of this paper appears in Proceedings of the International Workshop on Applied Learning Technologies, IEEE Computer Society Press, 2000 (MERL WP2000-07). We have developed a genre of software construction kits and a framework for implementing them. The framework is both conceptual and structural. Its conceptual aspect derives from constructivist learning theory, and its structural aspect extends the Java Abstract Windowing Toolkit. This framework, called the \"Kit4Kits,\" supports generation of software kits that are highly graphical and highly interactive. They are characterized by two main processes: players\' building of objects from graphical elements, and the software\'s activation of the constructions. Five existing kits demonstrate a range of techniques for constructing objects. Additional techniques have become apparent as users of the framework created their own kits. We review these results and discuss various techniques for constructing graphical, dynamic, two-dimensional objects in software tools for learning.