Ariadne's thread: An introduction to logic programming

Abstract

Ariadne's Thread is a package composed of a self-instruction text addressed to high school students coupled with a commercially available prolog interpreter. The material is aimed at introducing computer novices to the concepts of logic programming. The examples and tasks in the package are based on the metaphor of Theseus in Crete with the subject matter presented through a series of dialogues between Ariadne and Theseus, introducing Prolog, a “genius” who will help him to find a way out of the labyrinth. Thirty secondary school teachers of different subjects with little or no computer experience attended a week-long summer school based on Ariadne's Thread. During the first two days they were introduced to Prolog in lectures, in the remaining three days they developed small Prolog applications in groups in the lab. with one computer and a tutor assigned to each group. Data was collected through questionnaires. The results showed that the material was quite easily understood and motivating, and the participants were able to devise applications in their subject area but only with substantial help from the tutors. Prolog alone did not prove to be a suitable vehicle for an introduction to logic programming concepts. While simple examples were easily learnt, more difficult problems required mastery of the language far beyond the level attained. This study indicates that the learning environment needs to be developed to facilitate the use of problem solving techniques, and the course requires to be extended to two weeks duration.