Methodology for the analysis of computational tools according to the principles of operative logic

Abstract

The present study is a result of the efforts of a research group from NUTED - Núcleo de Tecnologia Digital aplicada à Educação (Center of Digital technology Applied to Education) at FACED/UFRGS, which works on the Analysis of Computer Environments from the viewpoint of operative logic. Jean Piaget's operative logic is employed as the theoretical basis for the development of a methodology for the analysis of computational tools. The concepts used in the proposed method had to be defined in matrix form. Firstly, the theory of the individual subject was investigated with respect to its structure and symbolic function, reinterpreting these concepts in the subject. The object here is the computational tool for individual use. From this study, it was possible to build the general interaction model of any subject with a computational tool, and then to analyze it operatively. After that, the theory of collective subjects was introduced, and the model of its interaction with a tool of collective use was built. These models are used to visualize the interaction and identify, both in the tool and in the user, the logical and/or infralogical operations, as well as the groups of classes and/or relations according to the Euclidian and projective topological spaces. It is important to make such distinction because there are tools that support only operations of the individual type, whereas others support collective/cooperative operations. Therefore, from the application of these models the operatory level at which a subject must find him/herself to interact with a computational environment can be identified, and also the structuring and restructuring of those operations during the interaction itself.