#artificialintelligence #129:A new way for learning to Code through the Inverse Bloom’s Taxonomy?

I have been exploring this subject for some time in my newsletter and I wanted to expand on it further.?

In this edition, I explore the following themes

1. Implementing the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy?
2. How to apply Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy for learning to code (we use the case of C#)
3. Other areas where we could apply the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy - especially in the Metaverse
4. In future newsletters, how we can use generative AI tools like Github Copilot ?for paid programming and OpenAI code interpreter (now renamed Advanced Data Analysis)

Learning to code

Let’s start with a question:?

If? I were to learn to code today, would I do it he same way as I did pre GPT??

I suggest - not. Generative tools can help - but I argue that we need a different pedagogy (way of learning) - which is the theme of this article. In later versions, I will expand this further.

These ideas are a part of? my teaching artificial intelligence at the #universityofoxford and also our startup salooki.ai?

To summarise

Ultimately, you would learn to code in a virtual environment using the concept map as a scaffolding for the Inverse Bloom approach supplemented by generative AI. This would make learning more inclusive and fun - even for complex subjects.

What is Bloom’s Taxonomy

Lets start with the familiar Bloom’s taxonomy known to educators

Bloom's Taxonomy is a framework that classifies educational objectives and cognitive skills into a hierarchy. The taxonomy is often used by educators to design curriculum, assessments, and instructional strategies to promote higher-order thinking skills and learning. Bloom's Taxonomy consists of six levels, arranged from the simplest cognitive processes to the most complex:

• Remember: This level involves the ability to recall or retrieve information from memory. It includes tasks such as memorization, recognition, and recalling facts or basic concepts.
• Understand: Understanding goes beyond mere memorization. It involves the ability to comprehend the meaning of information, explain ideas in one's own words, and interpret data or concepts.
• Apply: At this level, students are expected to use their understanding of information to solve problems, apply knowledge in new situations, or carry out procedures.
• Analyze: Analyzing requires breaking down information into its constituent parts, examining relationships, and identifying patterns or connections. It involves a deeper level of thinking and often includes tasks like comparing, contrasting, and categorizing.
• Evaluate: This level involves making judgments or assessments about the quality, value, or effectiveness of ideas, products, or solutions. It requires the ability to critically assess and defend one's opinions.
• Create: The highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy involves the generation of new ideas, products, or solutions. This level of thinking encompasses creativity, originality, and the ability to synthesize information in novel ways.

What is Inverse Bloom's taxonomy

There have been a number of criticisms and revisions of Bloom’s taxonomy. For example, revisions like? the Digital Bloom taxonomy

We are specifically interested in a particular revision called the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy. I saw the earliest reference by Shelly Wright as Flipped Bloom taxonomy. Arthur Shelley also wrote a paper on this subject Reverse Bloom: A new hybrid approach to experiential learning for a new world

But in this article, we are going to focus on Sam Wineburg & Jack Schneider? article from 2009? - Inverting Bloom’s Taxonomy. Sam Wineburg is a professor of education at Stanford University. Jack Schneider is a doctoral student at Stanford whose research focuses on the history of American education. They approach this subject from a perspective of learning History - but their principles apply to all learning in my view.?

Some comments from their article:

The taxonomy was lean and intuitive, but the image of the pyramid gave it staying power. “Knowledge” formed the wide and stable base. “Evaluation” was the terrain of intellectual mountaineers.

Never mind the fact that Benjamin Bloom, the influential University of Chicago education professor who died in 1999, never used a pyramid to illustrate his taxonomy, much less for the purpose of teacher professional development.?

What mattered was the taxonomy in practice. In a postwar world marked by increasing specialization and fragmentation, the taxonomy was an antidote to chaos.?

There was only one problem. The pyramid was upside down—at least for the history classroom.Just as math is about more than learning theorems, history is about more than collecting facts.?

It is also a discipline that requires piecing together an accurate story from incomplete fragments.?

Historical thinkers begin by asking questions, evaluating what they don’t know in pursuit of their ultimate aim: knowledge. And then they repeat the process.

But in thousands of history classrooms across the United States, that isn’t what happens. Students work to learn the names of people, places, and events.?

Only then, once they’ve built up a storehouse of knowledge, are they asked to think about it. When asked about such practice, many teachers find succor in Bloom’s Taxonomy.?

In history, as in other disciplines, the aim is not merely to collect what is known, but to learn how to think about problems in a new way and provide their unique perspectives.?

In my view, Inverse Bloom? is very interesting because?

• Learners today have shorter attention spans
• Due to their existing exposure to diverse knowledge sources, they often have an existing perspective/context to a problem.?
• As a general principle, starting with creativity is good
• For harder learning, we can prevent learner dropout.

Challenges with the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy

The idea behind Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy is to promote higher-order thinking skills and creativity right from the start, encouraging students to engage with complex problems and concepts early in the learning process. It emphasizes active learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving, with the understanding that foundational knowledge can be built upon and reinforced as students progress through the learning journey.

Placing creativity at the centre of the learning is a good thing. What's not to like about that??

But there are some challenges with Inverse Bloom (which places creativity at the centre of learning)

1. If educators want to create instructional material based on starting with creativity (or in general, higher order skills), we need a scaffolding to link the complex cognitive tasks (Create) to the basic / fundamental skills(Remember).?
2. Overemphasis on Product-Oriented Assessment: The framework places significant emphasis on the "Creating" level, which focuses on students producing tangible outcomes. This emphasis may neglect the value of process-oriented learning, reflection, and exploration, which are important aspects of education.
3. May Not Suit All Subjects and Levels: Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy is not universally applicable to all subjects or grade levels. Some subjects may require domain-specific frameworks, and certain grade levels might benefit from a more developmentally tailored approach.
4. Lack of Clarity on Progression: Unlike Bloom's Taxonomy, which outlines a clear progression from lower-order to higher-order thinking skills, Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy does not provide as clear a path for students' cognitive development.
5. Doesn't Address Motivation: The framework does not explicitly address student motivation, which is a crucial factor in learning. Motivation can significantly impact a student's ability to engage with and progress through different cognitive levels.

Instructional design for Inverse Bloom's taxonomy using concept maps?

To overcome these limitations, we propose the use of concept maps as a scaffolding for? Inverse Bloom's taxonomy coupled with Generative AI. We explore two use cases for this approach: Learning to code and learning skills in the Metaverse.?

The concept map becomes a central tool for engaging with the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy. A concept map is similar to a mindmap.?

• Mind maps and concept maps are both graphical tools used to visualize and organize information, ideas, and relationships, but they have distinct characteristics and purposes.?
• The main difference between a mindmap and a concept map is that a mindmap is based on a central idea. A concept map represents the overall relationship between all the concepts for an idea in a hierarchy
• You can also think of a concept graph as an attempt to understand an ontology for a specific domain. explain the term ontology in simple language

Example concept map?

Image source: https://www.canva.com/graphs/templates/concept-maps/?

Combining concept maps with Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy can be a powerful instructional approach to design effective learning experiences. Here's how concept maps can help overcome the limitations of Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy:

• Visualizing Relationships
• Encouraging Reflection
• Linking Practical Applications?
• Facilitating Metacognition
• Tie back to Fundamental knowledge?
• Assessment and Feedback
• Adaptation and Personalization?
• Connecting Diverse Learning Experiences?
• Promoting Active Learning
• Scaffolding Learning
• Facilitating Communication/Shared learningIncorporating concept maps into the learning process within the framework of Inverse Bloom's Taxonomy can provide a structured and visually intuitive means of connecting creative learning experiences with foundational knowledge. It encourages a holistic approach to learning, where both practical skills and theoretical understanding are valued and integrated.

Learning to code: C#

Consider how to learn to code for C#

You would consider the following steps

• Create an ontology for C#
• Create a concept map for C#
• Collectively expand the concept map and ontology?
• The resultant framework provides a scaffolding for learning using the Inverse Bloom’s taxonomy
• Start with areas of interest i.e. the creative / higher order concept
• But because, we have the scaffolding of the Concept map, we can always create dynamic learning paths to the fundamental concepts?
• The same idea could be translated to the metaverse for skill learning using the idea of spatial mapping for concept maps. The image below is from Noda which enables concept mapping in the metaverse
• Of course you can combine generative AI to learn to code.

Ultimately, you would learn to code in a virtual environment using the concept map as a scaffolding for the Inverse Bloom approach supplemented by generative AI. This would make learning more inclusive and fun - even for complex subjects.

To create concept map for learning C#

• Getting Started: This section includes foundational concepts and introductory topics for beginners.
• Introduction to C#: Beginners start with an introduction to the C# programming language.

• Syntax: Covers the rules and structure of writing C# code.
• Variables: Introduces the concept of variables and how to declare and use them.
• Data Types: Explains the different data types available in C#, including integers, strings, booleans, and more.
• Control Flow: Covers conditional statements and how to control program flow.
• Operators: Introduces various operators for performing operations on data.
• Loops: Explains how to use loops to repeat actions in code.
• Functions: Covers functions, also known as methods, and how to define and use them.
• Arrays: Introduces arrays for storing and manipulating collections of data.
• Error Handling: Explains how to handle errors and exceptions in C# programs.
• Debugging: Covers techniques for identifying and fixing issues in code.
• Classes: Introduces the concept of classes and object-oriented programming (OOP) in C#.
• Subtopic: Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
• File I/O: Explains how to read from and write to files.
• Libraries: Touches upon the use of libraries and external resources in C# programming.
• Subtopic: Using External Libraries
• Advanced Topics: This section delves into more advanced concepts for learners who want to go beyond the basics.
• Delegates and Events: Introduces delegates and events, which are crucial for event handling in C#.
• Subtopic: Event Handling
• Inheritance: Covers inheritance, a key concept in OOP.
• Polymorphism: Explores polymorphism and its role in OOP.
• Exception Handling: Details exception handling techniques.
• Collections: Introduces data structures like lists, dictionaries, and queues.
• Advanced OOP: Covers advanced OOP concepts, including encapsulation. Subtopic: Encapsulation
• Advanced C# Features: Explores advanced language features and techniques.
• Asynchronous Programming: Introduces asynchronous programming using async and await.
• LINQ: Covers Language Integrated Query (LINQ) for querying collections.
• Attributes: Explains the use of attributes, including custom attributes.
• Nullable Types: Details nullable value types.
• Unsafe Code: Introduces unsafe code for low-level memory operations.
• Practical Applications: This section represents the real-world application of C# programming, where learners can create projects, applications, or games using their knowledge of C#.
• Console Applications: Covers building text-based console applications.
• Desktop Applications: Introduces desktop application development using frameworks like Windows Forms or WPF.
• Web Applications: Explores web development with C# using ASP.NET.
• Game Development: Touches upon using C# in game development engines like Unity.
• Database Integration: Discusses connecting C# applications to databases.
• Mobile Apps: Introduces mobile app development using C# with Xamarin or .NET MAUI.

If you want to study with me, see ? my teaching artificial intelligence at the #universityofoxford?

Image source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/binary-code-privacy-policy-woman-1327493/?