Thank you for your previous support of the Alice project.

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• Thank you for your previous support of the Alice
  project.
• Lets see what youve helped make possible.

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Getting students interesting in computing
againPI Randy Pauschpausch_at_cmu.eduCarnegi
e Mellon University
Alice
For more information
www.alice.org
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For the last 25 years

• We have taught computer programming the same way
• Students types his/her program with the keyboard
• There is a frustrating need to get the syntax
  correct
• The program produces textual output
• 25 years ago, producing textual output was cool
  it isnt now.
• The Java Program
• class HelloWorldApp
• public static void main(String args)
  System.out.println("Hello World!")
• Prints Out
• Hello World!

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We have lost over 50 ofCS majors in the last 7
years
Median Per Dept.
Total

• http//www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march06/vegso.html
  

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The Alice System (www.alice.org)

• Allows students to learn computer programming
  more easily
• Drag-and-Drop editor for creating programs
• Programs are 3D movies or games
• Alice has been formally shown to improve learning
  and retention in college students
• The approach of telling stories with 3D movies
  has been formally shown to motivate middle school
  girls
• Provided free (open source) by Carnegie Mellon
• Runs on Windows, Mactinosh, and Linux

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Live Demo
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We steal from the best

• Walt Disney Imagineerings Player for
  interactive 3d content
• Alan Kay/Squeak for the drag-and-drop interface

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Alice has always been free.Alice will always
continue to be free.
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Pedagogically Why Alice Works

• No syntax-based frustration
• Data is visible changes are animated you can
  see what is happening
• Highly motivating

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Seven textbooks have beenwritten based on Alice.
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Roughly 10 of US Colleges Already Teach With
Alice

• Highest penetration at Community Colleges (where
  need is greatest)
• Primarily Used for CS1, pre-CS1, and
  computer literacy courses.

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Last 12 months, at www.alice.org

• 3.5 million page views
• 528,000 unique visitors
• 158,000 IP addresses performed 440,540 downloads
  of the system.
• (this excludes CD/textbook distribution)

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Alice helps at-risk CS majors
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Alice helps at-risk CS majors
M. Moskal, D. Lurie, and S. Cooper, Evaluating
the Effectiveness of a New Instructional
Approach. In Proceedings of 2004 SIGCSE
Conference, (Norfolk, VA).
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Alice is real programming

• Java Code
  Alice Code (Java Mode)

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Alice and Middle School Girls

• Recent Ph.D. dissertation by Caitlin Kelleher
  (starting on faculty this fall at Washington U.
  in St. Louis!)
• Present programming as a means to the end of
  storytelling.
• She measured the benefits of this storytelling
  approach

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Evaluation with Girls Scouts
But we believe the approach works for both
genders and all ages. Formative 250
users Summative 88 users
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Formative Storyboards
D kneels down to see if they were ok
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Storyboard Actions
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Summative Three Activities in Alice
2 Editing Programs
1 Scene Layout
3 Running Programs
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Users of Storytelling Alice spend 42 more time
programming (as opposed to doing scene layout)
plt 0.001
p lt 0.001
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Storytelling Alice motivates reluctant programmers
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Storytelling Alice motivates reluctant programmers
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Storytelling Alice motivates reluctant programmers
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Time on task is a strong predictor of learning
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Users of Storytelling Alice are more likely to
sneak extra time to continue programming.
p lt 0.001
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Whats Next?

• We have made inroads in college and high school
• Caitlin Kellehers work shows the way forward

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Production Values Matter
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Best Selling PC Games of all time

• The Sims (16 million)
• Myst (9 million)
• Starcraft (9 million)
• Half-Life (8 million)
• Age of Empires II (7 million)
• World of Warcraft (5 million)
• The Sims 2 (4.5 million)
• Diablo II (4 million)
• Doom (3 million)
• Half-Life 2 (3 million)
• StarCraft Brood War (3 million)
• Warcraft II (3 million)
• Warcraft III (3 million)
• Age of Empires (3 million)
• Diablo (2.5 million)
• Civilization III (2.5 million)
• Quake (1.8 million)
• Battlefield 1942 (1.5 million)
• Civilization IV (1.2 million)

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Best Selling PC Games of all time

• The Sims (16 million)
• Myst (9 million)
• Starcraft (9 million)
• Half-Life (8 million)
• Age of Empires II (7 million)
• World of Warcraft (5 million)
• The Sims 2 (4.5 million)
• Diablo II (4 million)
• Doom (3 million)
• Half-Life 2 (3 million)
• StarCraft Brood War (3 million)
• Warcraft II (3 million)
• Warcraft III (3 million)
• Age of Empires (3 million)
• Diablo (2.5 million)
• Civilization III (2.5 million)
• Quake (1.8 million)
• Battlefield 1942 (1.5 million)
• Civilization IV (1.2 million)

And more female than male players!
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Production Values Matter
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The Future Alice v3.0

• Available in 2008.
• Goal Alice as the system to teach introductory
  programming.
• Driven by Caitlin Kellehers findings about
  storytelling
• Students are motivated to make movies (or
  videogames)
• Electronic Arts (EA) has given us 300,000 and
  permission to use the characters and animations
  from The SimsTM 2 in Alice v3.0
• Heinz Foundation has given us 200,000
• Alice v3.0 will us Java as the student language
• Drag drop interface or typing code (whichever
  you prefer)

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We have already done the hard engineering this
scene uses Sims II characters, and is rendered in
an early prototype of Alice v3.0
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Live Demo