
Pas a Pas: Using animation to teach abstract concepts to children - timthelion
http://www.pasapas-project.com/#
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tobr
Wow, that is some beautiful hardware. The cartridge, control panel, switches,
wooden sides - such a nice esthetic. I wish more electronics went for that
look.

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cosarara97
If anyone wonders, "pas a pas" means "step by step" in Catalan.

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marci
In french as well (pas à pas).

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harperlee
The accent in the video is strongly spanish, so it most probably pas a pas is
catalan :P

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grzm
The creator is Ishac Bertran who hails from Barcelona. He currently lives in
Seattle, and developed the project while at the Copenhagen Institute of
Interaction Design. Seems like a pretty international individual.

[http://ishback.com/about.html](http://ishback.com/about.html)

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jojoo
I think it's usage as real geometry learning tool is very limited. You can
even see in the video that the children are wondering what the animation is
after completing the puzzles. Fortunately the educator sees this explains it
to the boys.

This is not surprising as Maria Montessoris understanding of geometry and pre-
numeric Math is nowadays considered to be quite poor.

The usage as a stop-go animation machine seems to be fun, they seem to enjoy
it. I've worked with children almost twice as old and they were quite confused
about the concept of how to create a stop-go animation, so i'd like to have a
similar machine in my school.

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learn1ng2learn
> This is not surprising as Maria Montessoris understanding of geometry and
> pre-numeric Math is nowadays considered to be quite poor.

Could you elaborate on this? Or point to any references? Thanks

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jojoo
Keep in mind that Montessoris theory is ~100 years old; it kept up very well
but there are shortcomings; IMO especially in the realm of pre-numeric
mathematics.

The base of the critique is that Montessori does not provide a conclusive,
foundational Layer of (Pre-)Mathematics - a model of more or less depending
sub-skills - which would enable A) Educators to better understand their pupils
or what they need to further their skills[1] B) enable the invention of new
Material. She basically states that children need Material X, Y and Z, but not
how and why the work with the material enables them to start using math.

[1] = Which is very important for pupils with different learning paths and/or
disabilities.

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Nycto
Is there anything you would recommend instead? Or any resources you have on
hand to get more information?

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jojoo
You mean of the critique of Maria Montessoris education in general?

Then i'd refer you the 1914s Text from Kilpatrick (From the same time than
Montessori, a progressive Educator himself)
[https://archive.org/details/montessorisystem00kilprich](https://archive.org/details/montessorisystem00kilprich)

I just chuckeled as i re-read his accounts of her arithmetics material:

"On the whole, the arithmetic work seemed good, but not remarkable; probably
not equal to the better work done in this country. In particular there is very
slight effort to connect arithmetic with the immediate life of the child.
Certainly, in the teaching of this subject, there is for us no funda- mental
suggestion. "

Mind you, that's from 1914. Pedagogics have improved since then...

Or do you mean a better understanding how pre-numeric mathematic works? Most
efforts are built around Piagets Teachings (Not very scientific as he "just"
observed his own three children)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget%27s_theory_of_cognitive...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget%27s_theory_of_cognitive_development)

One sample of such a adaptations for pre-numerics (not Geometry) are the works
of Carin de Vries (sadly only in German): [http://oops.uni-
oldenburg.de/1014/1/vridia10.pdf](http://oops.uni-
oldenburg.de/1014/1/vridia10.pdf)

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mkempe
I call BS.

Kilpatrick was a disciple of Dewey; both were known haters of Maria Montessori
and her work, and never gave any specific criticism of her system, just
appeals to their own authority; they basically rejected her purpose in
education (developing the faculty of reason, learning writing, reading,
arithmetics, and geometry) because of their progressive-education, anti-reason
dogma.

There isn't much difference between the insights of Montessori and Piaget.
Piaget worked with Montessori early in his career. The experimental nursery
school in Geneva, La Maison des Petits, where Piaget carried out his first
studies of children in the 1920s, was a modified Montessori institution, and
Piaget was the head of the Swiss Montessori Society for many years.

Jean Piaget was a great scientist who conducted systematic experiments with
countless children. Your claim that he only observed his own 3 children is a
lie. Scientists at the University of Geneva to this day carry on with his
research and experiments.

That last reference you provide is some obscure German PhD thesis which does
not reference Montessori's work at all; it has a major focus on teaching
mentally retarded children, as well as teaching mathematics out of books to
children older than the ones that go to Montessori schools (commonly age 3-6).

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jojoo
Kilpatrick contra Montessori: I'd call the 70 page critique quite specific.
Quote: "The Montessori child learns self-reliance by free choice in relative
isolation from the directress. He learns in an individualistic fashion to
respect the rights of his neighbors. The kindergarten child learns conformity
to social standards mainly through social pressure focused and brought to bear
in a kindly spirit by the kindergartner." Clearly the writings of a hater ;)

    
    
      > There isn't much difference between the insights of Montessori and Piaget.

How a child learns, what big influence self interest and self control are is
quite similar between the both. I personally also agree. The immense impact
and usefulness of Piagets stages of cognitive development are orginally his
and not to be found in Montessoris Teachings.

    
    
      > Piaget was a great scientist who conducted systematic experiments with countless children. Your claim that he only observed his own 3 children is a lie.
    

Well, it's a hyperbole based on Ginsburg & Opper, 2004. I included the
hyperbole b/c i thought it might come up after i brought up Piagets name. His
well-respected and often built upon work is often criticized because of lack
of initial sample size, reliance on language as critical examination tool and
some stages don't develop in all and/or most children like he predicted.

His work was still a giant leap.

    
    
      > That last reference you provide is some obscure German PhD thesis which does not reference Montessori's work at all; it has a major focus on teaching mentally retarded children, as well as teaching mathematics out of books to children older than the ones that go to Montessori schools (starting at age 3).
    

The Author of this thesis is one of the most respected scientists in germany
relating to pre-numeric Mathematics. Teachers for mentally retarded children
had to think about pre-numeric mathematics long before it became fashionable
for younger kids. She based her work on Piaget and Vygotsky. Its quite my
point that she didn't base it on Montessori.

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mkempe
More nonsense.

Evidence contra your second claim, that Piaget's "stages of cognitive
development orginally his and not to be found in Montessoris Teachings":
Montessori's theory of the sensitive stages [1] and the planes of development
[2].

I'm not going to continue to argue with someone who willfully spreads lies
(malicious "hyperbole") and poppycock.

[1] [http://rmschool.org/content/sensitive-
periods](http://rmschool.org/content/sensitive-periods)

[2] [https://ami-global.org/montessori/quotes/four-planes-
develop...](https://ami-global.org/montessori/quotes/four-planes-development)

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dang
You've crossed into incivility in this thread and broken the HN guidelines by
calling names. That's not ok, regardless of how wrong someone else is. Indeed,
assuming your position is correct, it's important not to discredit it by
commenting like this.

Would you mind reading the site guidelines and following them scrupulously
when commenting here? We're trying for a better outcome than scorched earth
followed by heat death, which seems to be the default for internet forums.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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mkempe
Ok.

My father worked with Piaget, so I lack tolerance for someone who deliberately
spreads lies about Piaget's work.

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dang
I can certainly understand that. Still, patient correction is probably a
better way to honour him.

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mkempe
Thank you, that's a helpful perspective.

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danschumann
Nice! But I think kids might put their hand on the memory cartridge and break
it.. that should be less sticky outy.

