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\\M1BASL30;\M2BASB30;\M3NGR25;\M4NGR20;\F2\CSTANFORD UNIVERSITY
\F3\CSTANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305
\F4COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT\←L\-R\/'7;\+R\→.\→S   Telephone:
\←S\→.415-497-4971
\F1\CApril 28, 1975








Mr. Erik D. McWilliams, Program Director
Technology and Systems
National Science Foundation
Washington D.C. 20550


Dear Mr. McWilliams:


\JI am  enclosing a draft  of my proposal  as suggested on  April 28.
The  current content is rather  loose since I am  first attempting to
set  the philosophical  tone  rather  than  write  a  proposal  in  a
well-established field.   If more  details are required  I can supply
them. 

The immediate  goal  of the  proposal is  to  develop an  interactive
programming  system.   Several  groups are  currently  thinking along
similar lines, but are deficient in one or more aspects.  The novelty
here is  in the  blend of theory,  pedagogy and  computer technology.
IMSSS is  certainly the ideal atmosphere for developing this project;
Psychology, Computer Science, and Education are all components of the
proposed programming laboratory. 

The display system of Suppes, though not  ideal, would be adequate to
develop an  impressive system. I believe that  such an initial system
could  be  developed  within  a  year,  with  an  exportable  version
available  in three  years. The  initial endeavor  should consist  of
myself and perhaps another programmer. 

The  applications  of such  research  are  many. I,  as  a practicing
programmer, would use  such a system; and  as a teacher, I  have used
informally  many  of  the  proposed  commands  in  describing  proper
construction of  algorithms.   So  far I  have taught  such  abstract
programming to  undergraduates and  graduate students,  but I see  an
immediate  application  to  high  school  curricula.    The  ideas  of
algorithmic description, and abstract  data structures are  certainly
within the grasp of high school students.   With the rapid decline in
hardware prices, the  cost of such a system will be within the budget
of most schools.   What is  needed is a  thorough re-thinking of  the
programming  process.  Most  approaches  to  programming  are  really
discussions of how to code in a specific programming language, rather
than  an  investigation of  algorithms.    It  is  through  a  proper
understanding   of  algorithms   that  we   will  make   progress  on
reliability.  Thus we will need  the programming system and the  text
for the underlying pedagogy.   I am planning to  write an appropriate
high school level  text as soon as I finish the current college text.
I see this approach to algorithms and data structures as a  novel and
important way of  introducing basic scientific thought  to all levels
of student,  from high school through college.  (A colleague of yours,
Kent Curtis has expressed similar ideas.) 

I would like to get your  impressions of the funding possibilities as
soon  as possible. I  have to make  a decision soon as  to whether to
continue at Stanford  or go elsewhere to  continue my research.   Dr.
Suppes has been quite responsive  to the proposal but he has not been
able to make any firm commitments. 

If you have any questions or desire clarifications, please give me  a
call. 
\.
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Yours sincerely,



John R. Allen
Research Associate
Computer Science Dept
Artificial Intelligence Lab

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