MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC RESEARCH LABORATORY Approaches to Processes of Construction in Software Kits

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, twodimensional objects in software tools for learning. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of MERL A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to MERL A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory. All rights reserved. Copyright © Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, 2000 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Approaches to Processes of Construction in Software Kits