Interactive tools in the graphics classroom

ABSTRACT

Computer graphics is a fun course for both teachers and students. The topics are filled with interesting images and animations, there is a wealth of support material available, and students are motivated to express creativity in projects. There are also underlying math concepts and algorithms that some students find challenging to fully understand. At our institution, we teach a computer graphics course to junior and senior-level computer science majors as an elective. To assist their understanding of fundamental concepts and algorithms, we created and employed a collaborative learning approach using locally developed interactive tools during each lecture. The Think-Pair-Share model was used to facilitate collaborative interaction between students. The results of this approach were measured through in-class feedback questions and student performance on individual exam questions. Students enjoyed using the tools, highly rating them on the feedback forms, but were less enthusiastic about the classroom methodology used to present them. These results along with lessons learned will be addressed.

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Index Terms

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing education

      • Computing education programs

        • Computer science education