A learning environment to practise logic programming

This paper describes a research project aimed at investigating the formative value (if any) of logic programming with high school students. Previous experience at the Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche (ITD), both in the specific field of teaching logic programming and in the more general one of teaching information science, formed the idea of developing TESEO. This is a software environment which makes it easier for the student to practise those aspects of logic programming (such as knowledge representation and deduction methods) which we consider are more likely to be formative, while hiding other aspects of the Prolog language which may be considered more technical. TESEO's features are described together with some examples of possible exercises.