Designing a new mandatory subject of informatics for the 6th grade of the Bavarian Gymnasiums we decided to use a certain type of object modeling to bridge the gap between two nearly opposite objectives: to enable the students to use IT-Systems in a competent and autonomous way as well as to teach durable and transferable basic concepts. Although there exist some arguments against the benefit of mental models, we rely on these in order to support our novice students in applying and mastering IT-Systems. This opinion is supported by some recent results of the pedagogical psychology. We present a suitable modeling technique that will be used in the novice course of the new subject and some results of the first evaluations of the testing courses.

Designing a new mandatory subject of informatics for the 6th grade of the Bavarian Gymnasiums we decided to use a certain type of object modelling to bridge the gap between two almost opposite objectives. The first was to enable the students to use IT-systems in a competent and autonomous way — the second to teach durable and transferable basic concepts. While some criticisms have been levelled against the benefits of mental models, we rely on these mental models to support our novice students in applying and mastering IT-systems. Our views are supported by some recent results from pedagogical psychology. In this paper we present a suitable modelling technique that will be used in the novice course of the new subject and some results of the first evaluations of the preliminary pilot courses.

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