3D Animation: An Innovative Approach to Introductory Programming

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3D AnimationAn Innovative Approachto
Introductory Programming

• Stephen Cooper, scooper_at_sju.edu

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Overview

• The problem of declining CS enrollments
• Our solution Alice
• Program Visualization
• Description of Alice
• Demo
• Results from NSF studies
• How Alice is being used
• Future plans
• QA

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Research Collaborators

• Stephen Cooper, Saint Joseph's University, NSF
• Curriculum development, author
• Wanda Dann, Ithaca College
• Curriculum development, author
• Barb Moskal, Colorado School of Mines
• Evaluation
• Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University
• Alice design and development
• Don Slater, Carnegie Mellon University
• Author

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The Shrinking CS pool
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The Shrinking CS pool

• Dropout rate in first year
• Informal surveys 35 70
• Typically 40 50
• Percentage of women in CS is abysmal (less than
  20 of BS degrees are awarded to women)

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Why?

• Adding object-oriented concepts to first year
  courses has increased the number of topics to be
  covered.
• increased teacher prep time
• increased student frustration
• The way we teach programming has not really
  changed in the past 25 years

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Game Plan

• Develop an innovative instructional approach to
  develop intuitive understanding of
• Fundamental programming concepts
• Sequence
• Decisions
• Repetition
• Methods and parameters
• OOP concepts
• objects and classes
• encapsulation
• methods and parameters
• inheritance

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Visualization in CS

• The use of graphics in teaching CS concepts has
  taken three major forms
• Algorithm Animation
• Simulation
• Program Visualization

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Program Visualization

• Program visualization allows a student to write a
  program and view a visual representation of
  execution
• Primary use has been for introducing math and
  programming concepts
• Examples Logo, Karel the Robot

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Alice issoftware an approach
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The Alice Software

• A 3D interactive animation environment
• A program visualization tool
• The program state is visible to the student
• State changes are animated
• A tool for teaching programming concepts
• fundamental
• object oriented
• System developed at Carnegie Mellon

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Alice features

• Uses 3D graphics to engage students
• Has a smart drag-and-drop editor that prevents
  syntax errors
• Appeals to wide audience
• Storytelling
• (young women, minority students)
• Interactive computer games
• (young men)

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Alice Features

• Makes objects something students can see and
  relate to
• Has a java syntax mode to ease the transition to
  C/Java/VB.net

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Alice Approach

• Textbook
• Emphasizes design using
  storyboards
• Supports varying pedagogy
• objects-early
• objects-first"
• Allows an (optional) early introduction to events
  
• Online instructional support materials
• www.aliceprogramming.net

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Alice Demo

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Support

• NSF 0126833 CCLI EMD Proof of Concept
• NSF 0302542 ATE
• NSF 0339734 CCLI Project
• NSF 0511940 ASA
• NSF 0623808 ITEST
• NSF 0618461 CCLI Level 2
• PACMACS
• Foundation Support
• NSF 0220409 CSEMS
• NSF 0630842 S-STEP

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NSF Study Proof of Concept High Risk Students

• We examined historical data at IC and SJU for 5
  years
• Found that
• Percentage of women in CS classes is typically
  low
• Students at high risk of D/W/F
• Have little or no previous programming experience
• And/or are not ready for calculus

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Results of Proof of Concept study

• As used towards retention of CS majors
• GPA in CS1 improved
• Grades went from C to B
• at-risk students (students with little to no
  prior programming experience and/or weak
  mathematics background)
• Increased retention into CS2 from 47 to 88
• Improved attitudes towards computing

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Studies In Progress

• CCLI Project
• Extend study to other colleges universities
  with varying student backgrounds, demographics,
  courses
• ATE
• Modify approach for community college environment
  students
• ASA
• Develop valid, reliable testing instruments

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How Alice is being used

• In pre-CS1
• course for majors and students considering a CS
  major
• As conceptual introduction in CS1
• Introduction to programming course
• non-majors
• attract students to become CS majors
• Computer literacy
• problem-solving component
• Pre-AP in high schools

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Alice usage in college
Source Prentice Hall sales data for Learning to
Program with Alice
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High/Middle Schools

• We have 100 high school teachers on our monthly
  e-newsletter list.
• NSF-ITEST grant will sponsor workshops for high
  school teachers in six regions in Summer 2008
• Northern California Colorado
• North Carolina South Carolina
• Mississippi Virginia

Interested?
Contact us ASAP!!! bconover_at_sju.edu
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URLs

• The software www.alice.org
• Supplementary instructional materials
  www.aliceprogramming.net
• lectures
• labs
• assignments
• sample worlds (programs)
• To sign up for Alice email list/monthly
  newsletter, email bconover_at_sju.edu

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Future Alice

• Alice 3.0 will
• Include (EA) SIMS 3D models
• have a switch to generate Java code

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Questions?

• Stephen Cooper, scooper_at_sju.edu