Teaching programming with graphics
pitfalls and a solution
Additional information
Authors
Chiodini L.,
Sorva J.,
Hauswirth M.
Type
Article in conference proceedings
Year
2023
Language
English
Abstract
Many introductory programming courses employ graphics libraries that promote engagement and enable fun visuals. However, student excitement over graphical outputs is not a guarantee of conceptual understanding of programming, and graphics may even distract from intended learning outcomes. Our contribution is twofold. First, we analyze a selection of existing graphics libraries designed for novice programmers. We consider how these libraries foster clean decomposition, direct students’ attention to key content, and manage complexity; we find shortcomings in these respects. These shortcomings involve the libraries’ support for global coordinates and external graphics, as well as their rich APIs; we argue that these features, although powerful, are also potential pitfalls in student learning. Second, we present the design of a new graphics library, PyTamaro, which avoids the pitfalls with a minimalist design that eschews coordinates; we also outline a pedagogical approach that builds on PyTamaro’s strengths and deliberate limitations. We briefly discuss PyTamaro’s trade-offs in comparison to coordinate-based libraries. The work reported here paves the way for future empirical evaluations of PyTamaro and associated teaching practices.
Keywords
Education, Graphics, Library, Visual, Novices, Programming, Decomposition
Conference proceedings
ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on SPLASH-E
Meeting name
SPLASH-E '23: 2023 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on SPLASH-E
Meeting place
Cascais Portugal
Meeting date
Ottobre 19, 2023
Diffusion
License
Rights reserved
Visibility
Public
Status open access
Green
