alice-teacher Alice Assignments

Fri Jul 15 09:44:11 EDT 2011

I'm teaching a basic animations course to my high school students this
year.  I'm going to use Alice 2.2 and 3.0.  I've read through nearly
every e-mail regarding Alice questions the past few months but haven't
seen many ideas for class work.  Can anyone give me a few ideas they use
in the classroom for assignments, tutorials and or projects?  Thanks

Lee Baldwin

Augusta High School

From: alice-teachers-bounces+lbaldwin=usd402.com at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
[mailto:alice-teachers-bounces+lbaldwin=usd402.com at lists.andrew.cmu.edu]
On Behalf Of Wrigley, Eileen
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 7:40 PM
To: Alice educators
Subject: RE: alice-teacher Teaching Alice Online

I've taught Alice online for a few years.  I have taught a CS0 type
class called Fundamentals of Programming (for non-CIT majors and weak
CIT majors) which uses Alice 2.2 for the full semester and a CS1 type
class called Java Programming (first course in programming for CIT
majors) which uses Alice 3 Beta to introduce various Java programming
concepts.  I have enjoyed teaching both classes online.  Here are some
ideas for you:

1.  For the CS0 type class, we use the Wanda Dann text "Learning to
Program with Alice
<http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Program-Alice-ROM-3rd/dp/0132122472/ref=
sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310683921&sr=8-1> ".  I highly recommend this text
because it is excellent and students seem to understand the chapters.
For the CS1 class, I use my own handouts/chapters which integrate Alice
into Java chapters.  For both courses, I use lots of supplements.

2.  Online students may have a variety of issues with installation of
Alice software.  I have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) discussion
board for some known installation problems.  Since online students will
have various computer systems with a variety of operating systems,
memory, and graphics capabilities, this will become their first stop in
searching for a solution to their installation problem.  Be prepared
during first week for emails from students with installation problems
with either Alice 2.2 or Alice 3 Beta.

3.  I use a "Hall of Fame" board on my course site.  Each week, I post
the best 2-3 programming assignments that students submitted.  It helps
students develop a sense of pride for their work and also challenges
some of them to do "extra" work to earn a place on the board.  Even the
students who never make the Hall of Fame board enjoy seeing other
students' work.

4.  I have a discussion board thread for each assignment where I post
extra explanations of assignments, hints, and common mistakes along with
explanations.  Students can also post their questions to this board.
Although students can email me directly with any questions that they
have about assignments, this gives them a place to check first and
decreases the number of emails that I receive regarding assignments.

5.  Recently, I have begun requiring that students submit the actual
programs completed in the chapters.  Online students sometimes skim
chapters or don't even buy the text if they feel they can get by without
it.  Requiring them to submit the work from inside the chapters, forces
them to read the book and do the programs.   After requiring online
students do all the hands-on assignments from inside chapters (in
addition to the programs assigned at end of chapters), I saw improvement
in grades, improvement in students understanding programming concepts,
and improvement in retention. The downside of this is the overwhelming
amount of work for the teacher in "checking" all of these programs.

6.  I give lots of assignments for each chapter instead of just one.
The practice seems to help students understand the material.  Again, the
downside is the extra work for the teacher.

7.  Throughout the semester, I give several "creative" projects where
they choose their own scenes, storyboards, programs, etc.  The
guidelines are very broad so that students must show their creative
side.  To complete their projects, many students will read ahead and do
extra work so that they can complete their game or greeting card
project.

8.  You may want to develop some short videos of concepts that have
confused your students.  For instance, functions are always a difficult
concept for my CS0 students.  Another possibility is to record all your
Alice face-to-face class lectures/demonstrations and post them for your
online students.    

9.  Since online students will probably have some installation problems,
you may want to give online students a little extra time in first week
for this problem.  This way, face-to-face students will always be a
little ahead of the online students and that way you can test all your
lectures, demos, and assignments with a controlled face-to-face
environment and then "tweak" them for the online students.

Hope this helps!

Eileen Wrigley, Professor

Computer Information Technology

CCAC - South Campus

1750 Clairton Road

West Mifflin, PA  15122

412.469.6341

________________________________

From: alice-teachers-bounces+ewrigley=ccac.edu at lists.andrew.cmu.edu on
behalf of Rikki Fletcher
Sent: Wed 7/13/2011 2:43 PM
To: Alice educators
Subject: Re: alice-teacher Teaching Alice Online

I've taught intro to programming with Alice face2face.  I've taught some
Java online.  I can't give you specifics for Alice, but the Java
students
needed a lot visual tutorials (they were non-majors).

> Hi All,
>
> I'm a newbie to this list so apologies if this has been addressed in
the
> past. I'm teaching two sections of an Intro to Programming course this
> fall using Alice. One section face2face, the other online (first time
> for both).  Does anyone have any experience with teaching Alice online
> and if so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
>
>
>
> Neil
>
>
>
> Neil J. Rigole, Ph.D.
>
> Assistant Professor, School of Information Technology
>
> Director of Distance Education
>
> Professional Sciences & Conference Center - Room 310
>
> 478-757-3661
>
> Academic Affairs - Room A-118
>
> 478-471-2730
>
> Macon State College
>
> 100 College Station Drive
>
> Macon, GA 31206
>
>
>
> neil.rigole at maconstate.edu <mailto:neil.rigole at maconstate.edu>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> alice-teachers mailing list
> alice-teachers at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/alice-teachers
>

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