Allegheny Collegey
Philosophy
Reproduced with permission from NeXT Computer, Inc.
A Reference Guide to NeXT in Higher Education, Fall 1992
ยช 1992 NeXT Computer, Inc
Students explore philosophical ideas with computer lessons
Joel Smith, assistant professor of philosophy at Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn., uses NeXT computers to teach Models of Human Reasoning, an introductory philosophy class. The class focuses on the philosophy of science-a subject that includes a variety of abstract concepts students often find confusing and difficult to visualize.
According to Smith, one of the best ways to understand an abstract concept is by exposure to many concrete examples of the idea. Using Interface Builder and Objective C, he designed a series of homework exercises that combine text, images, notebooks, and writing to illustrate the abstract representations to students.
"Conceptually, it's the same thing as getting young people to sit at their desks with five books open and a piece of paper," says Smith. "But a very major practical difference is that they will be more intrigued by the computerized method of getting the information."
Regarding creating applications on a NeXT machine, Smith says, "Because the NeXTSTEP environment is so friendly, I'm able to create applications almost in real time. An exercise is not carved in stone once it's completed. I'm constantly modifying different exercises based on students' responses. Plus, I can modify or create new applications at the same time I'm writing the lesson plan for a particular class session-just a week before I actually have to assign the work to students. What we've been able to do with NeXT machines is unbelievable."
Using Smith's applications on NeXT machines, students can explore and become comfortable with complex philosophical ideas-such as symbolic modeling and noniconic representations-at their own pace.
"Students are better prepared for class after having done the exercises," says Smith. "My lectures have focused more on a discussion of the exercises. This is a much better use of class time."
Smith has also created a public bulletin board, No Problemo, on which he and other philosophy faculty "create a dialogue" among students enrolled in their courses. Smith often posts student papers or excerpts from classical works, for example, and asks students to answer various questions about them. Once students have completed the assignment, a public record of their responses exists on No Problemo for classmates to review and respond to.
Professor of Philosophy James Sheridan also uses NeXT machines in his courses. In Poetry Project, Sheridan explores how minds and brains function and interact. He uses the NeXT machine as an artificial intelligence tool to focus on these issues, specifically while teaching a computer to write poetry. Sheridan created a Lisp code called Horace, so students can program the machine to write two-stanza, eight-line pieces of accentual verse. The course also addresses how much meter, alliteration, and diction a computer can be taught.
Sheridan also requires students enrolled in his introductory course to keep an electronic journal using NeXT machines. Throughout the semester, Sheridan reviews the journals and inserts questions to provoke responses from his students.
Says Sheridan, "If we didn't have NeXT machines, I wouldn't have students keep a journal. It just wouldn't work pedagogically. Getting copies back and forth to students would be too big a problem. With NeXTmail and the Ethernet network, students are able to send and retrieve the journals from me. With the NeXT machine's large screen and graphical interface, it's easy for me to read the journals, make evaluations, and insert comments. I couldn't do this as easily on another machine-and definitely not on paper."
For more information, please contact:
Joel Smith
Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of Educational Computing
Allegheny College
Meadville, PA
(814) 332-3312
jsmith@alleg.edu