By Caitlin Kelleher and Randy Pausch - Presented By

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CONTINUE READING
by Caitlin Kelleher and Randy Pausch

Presented By:   Tom Watkins
                Tim Shepperson
                Tim Mutlow
Agenda
 Background
 Introduction to Alice
 Demonstration
 Further Analysis
 Alternatives
 Conclusions
Motivation
 Enrolment in Computer Science courses declining
  rapidly
 Significant gender imbalance
 Introductory steps of programming are seen to be
  uninspiring
 Growing interest in many applications of CS
Course Enrolment
 Student interest in Computer Science is falling
    2000-2005, number of new students in US dropped by
     70%
    Similar trend in UK

        Source: Vegso, J. Drop in CS bachelor's degree production. Computing Research News 18, 2 (Mar. 2006),
UCAS Applications for Computer Science

25000
20000
15000                                                Male
10000                                                Female
5000
   0
   1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
                  Year of Entry

                                           Source: UCAS Online Statistics
Gender Imbalance
   84.9% of US Computer Science degrees were awarded
    to men
   Self-fulfilling prophecy: ‘Programming is not for
    women’

Source: Zweben, S. Ph.D. Undergraduate enrollments again drop significantly. Computing Research News 18, 3 (May 2006)
Female Applicants

100%
80%

60%                                                                                   Male
40%                                                                                   Female

20%
 0%
   6

          7

                 8

                        9

                               0

                                      1

                                             2

                                                    3

                                                           4

                                                                  5

                                                                         6
    9

           9

                  9

                         9

                                0

                                       0

                                              0

                                                     0

                                                            0

                                                                   0

                                                                          0
 19

        19

               19

                      19

                             20

                                    20

                                           20

                                                  20

                                                         20

                                                                20

                                                                       20
                                                                         Source: UCAS Online Statistics
Introduction to Programming
 First exposure to programming is often uninspiring
    ‘Hello World’
    List sorting
 Essential basis, but not as fun as a 3D shoot ‘em up (or
  a nice story about Alice)
Applications of CS
 Exponentially increasing use of technology
 Interest in using technology does not always translate
  to interest in underlying principles
 Top down approach:
  programming -> applications vs
  applications -> programming
Computer Games
 Many teenagers have a keen interest in gaming
 Statistics on proportion of female gamers range from 8
 to 43%

          Sources: www.ziffdavis.com/products/print/egm and www.theesa.com/files/2005EssentialFacts. pdf
What Women Want
 Middle school girls surveyed:
    Very little interest in programming
    Prospect of making animated movies much more
     appealing
 Paper details attempt to motivate this demographic to
 learn basic programming though storytelling
Meet Alice
 Allows programmers to create 3D worlds intuitively
    Programs are animations
    Construct programs by dragging/dropping code
    Includes most programming concepts
       Loops, conditionals, methods, parameters, variables, arrays &
        recursion
 Freely available
Alice
Storytelling Alice
 Improvements over Alice:
    High-level animations & multiple scenes
       Enable better programs and motivate users to use
        programming constructs
   Library of 3D characters & scenery
       Helps inspire stories
   Story based tutorial through “Stencils”
       Substantially richer, detailed tutorials
Alice Tutorial
Programming Concepts in Alice
 Natural way to introduce Object Oriented
 Programming
   Characters are objects with attributes & methods
 Multiple scenes provide motivation for using
 method
   Users wanted to work on current scene without
    watching whole story
 Gestures & actions often require naturally
 motivated loops
   Waving a hand, flapping wings, bouncing a basketball
Classroom
 A US education committee identified 5 basic
 programming topics:
   Variables, data types and representation of data
   Managing complexity through top-down and object-
    oriented design
   Procedures and parameters
   Sequences, conditionals and loops
   Tools for expressing design

                             Taken from "Using Storytelling to Motivate Programming"
Test Results
 Alice was tested on a group of girl scouts
    87% of girls used multiple methods
    52% of girls used parameterised methods
    48% of girls used looping constructs
 Girls using Storytelling Alice were more motivated
  to program than those using standard Alice
 Informal testing shows similar results for boys

                                  Source: Using Storytelling to Motivate Programming
Why Does Storytelling Work?
 Naturally motivates the basic concepts of
  programming
 Opportunity for self expression
   Vision of completed story encourages perseverance
 Stories relate to real world issues
 Share achievements with friends and family
   Early programs usually difficult for non-programmers to
    appreciate, Stories can be appreciated by everyone
   In contrast to most computer games, stories can be
    shared with the whole class at once
Future of Alice
 Alice 3 will incorporate storytelling methodology with
 professionally modelled characters from The Sims 2

           Alice 2.0                  Alice 3.0
Criticisms of the Paper
 Unscientific
    Some core ideas based on speculation rather than survey
     results
    Only tested on a small sample of girl scouts
 US-centric
    Would benefit from an international perspective
 Vague conclusions
Criticisms of Alice
 Some inappropriate terms:

 Very restrictive – limited creativity
 Difficult to combine with a structured curriculum
 Could Alice build false expectations of real-world
  programming?
Similar Applications
 RAPUNSEL
    Very similar concept of programming a story
    Aimed at middle school girls
    Seems to have a muddled concept of OO:
             class raiseLeftArm extends Shirt

                                            Source: http://www.rapunsel.org
Rapunsel

           Source: http://www.rapunsel.org
Similar Applications
 LEGO Mindstorms
    Combines traditional Lego with motors, sensors and a
     programmable controller
    Included software allows simple programming
     constructs such as branching and loops but not Object-
     Oriented
    Many other options for more advanced programming
    Likely to appeal to boys more than girls

                             Source: http://www.botmag.com/articles/10-31-07_NXT.shtml
Mindstorms

             Source: http://www.botmag.com/articles/10-31-07_NXT.shtml
Conclusion
 Alice makes programming easier & more accessible
 Storytelling Alice enabled programming to be
  introduced as early as 5th grade (ages 10-11)
 A variety of alternatives exist to foster enthusiasm
  for programming in children
 Computer Science is more than just programming!
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