A Framework for Microworld-style Construction Kits

We describe a genre of game-like, microworld-style construction kits and an extensible Java framework that models method and structures for generating them. We include descriptions of example kits’ conceptual bases and design principles. We also explain how work with users of the “Kit for Kits” framework addresses needs of people with a broad range of expertise in programming, design, multimedia production, and learning theory. Continued development of the framework is being informed by museum-based contexts for kit use.