Learner's conceptions of 'common place' computing activities: a case in word processing

Over the last 25 years or so, there has been a major shift in science education attributable to science educators taking constructivist ideas seriously. This paper argues that whilst computers have been increasingly used in classrooms over this same period, and there have been some efforts to portray learner's understandings of computing concepts, remarkably little attention has been paid to how people learn information technology from the point of view cognitive development. A variant of the Predict-Observe-Explain protocol was used to probe understanding of a word processing task, and student responses were analysed using a knowledge framework. The results raise some challenges in terms of the content and pedagogy of ICT classes, and more carefully scaffolded probes to elicit learner understanding.