Assessment of JavaGami software will be twofold:

I. Feasibility Study: the tool will be assessed as a computational artifact.

II. Summative Assessment: children's spatial learning as a result of using the tool -- that is, the "fingerprints" left by the tool on children's spatial discourse -- will be investigated.

Feasibility Study Goals

The goals of the feasibility study are to determine (a) whether the software tool can be used appropriately by the intended age group, and (b) to uncover discrepancies between the way the tool behaves and the way that children want or expect the tool to work.

Assessment in this area will take place both as task-specific activities and as case studies of sessions in which children are allowed to use the software in whatever fashion they prefer.

In more free-form sessions, studies will focus upon patterns of feature use. This will involve observing the way that children make use of their time during a session with the software:

• What features of the software do children tend to use the most? Do they spend most of the time interacting with shapes in the wire frame browser? Do they concentrate on the decorative tools?
• Do children primarily use the built-in shapes, or do they use the functions to generate new polyhedra as well?
• Do children spend very little time with the software, but instead concentrate on real- world model construction?
• Are there features of the software that are consistently ignored or ones that consistently cause frustration?
• Are there features which lead the children to express delight/surprise?
• Can children use the software to accomplish their sculpture goals? Are there features that children feel are missing?

Summative Assessment Goals

The summative assessment of JavaGami is designed to examine children's spatial learning as a result of interacting with the tool. The assessment will be done by asking children to perform a variety of spatial tasks using different modes of representation such as freehand drawing of folding nets, verbal description of three-dimensional shapes, and standardized testing with drawn two- and three-dimensional figures.

folding net drawing

shape description

three-dimensional shape drawing

standardized testing

Assessment in HyperGami

Assessment in JavaGami is based on previous case studies and work with students using HyperGami.