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Fri, Nov 2, 5:00 - 5:25, Ellwood 2 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Goulet, D V and D Slater. Alice and the Introductory Programming Course: An Invitation to Dialogue. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §2723. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 7(50). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Alice and the Introductory Programming Course: An Invitation to Dialogue

Refereed

15 pages

Daniel V. Goulet    [a1] [a2]
Computing & New Media Technologies
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point    [u1] [u2]
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA    [c1] [c2]

Donald Slater    [a1] [a2]
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University    [u1] [u2]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA    [c1] [c2]

Alice, a 3D visual graphics environment, represents a breakthrough in teaching object-oriented computing by making objects visible. The object-oriented paradigm, though intuitive in its general form, is, for most students, a new way of thinking. The question is: How can we, as educators, make the most of Alice’s unique teaching environment, and what can we do to enhance student learning? The objective of this paper is two fold: (1) to create a dialogue about innovative and effective ways to use Alice as a teaching and learning tool, and (2) to exhibit an approach for relating the activities (features) of Alice to the teaching and learning requirements of the object-oriented paradigm.

Keywords: Alice, Introduction to programming, Object-oriented paradigm, Pedagogy, Introductory programming course, CS1

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