Teaching Computer Graphics in an AP Computer Science Class

1
Teaching Computer Graphics in an AP Computer
Science Class

• Mike Mullan
• Troy Courtney
• GK-12 Final Presentation

2
What is CS really all about?

• Not about writing code
• Writing algorithms
• Problem solving
• The same idea can be expressed in any number of
  programming languages
• Computer Science and algorithmic thinking can be
  applied to many different areas.

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Computer Graphics

• An important subfield of Computer Science
• One that immediately appeals to students, because
  of video games, movies
• Allows students to visualize their ideas and
  their code
• Much more interesting than the Marine Biology
  case study
• Shows students that Computer Science is more than
  writing boring code

4
Maya

• The tool most commonly used in modeling and
  animation
• Allows students to learn important Computer
  Graphics concepts without writing any code

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So what does Maya teach?

• 3D Geometry placing vertices, faces, edges
• Vectors surface normals
• Animation splines, keyframes
• Transformations scaling, rotations,
  translations
• Applications outside of CS This is a tool used
  extensively in movies, television, video games

6
OpenGL

• The standard API for 2D and 3D rendering
• Integrated with Java, the language used on the AP
  test
• Relatively easy to use, allowing the students to
  focus on concepts, not syntax

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So what does OpenGL teach

• State based programming
• Makes object oriented programming more concrete
• Math transformations, matrices, vectors,
  collisions
• Allows students to see their code and
  algorithms
• Integrated with Maya
• Again, used extensively in the computer graphics
  industry

8
Demos

• Modeling a TIE Fighter
• Flying around the classroom
• Pong
• Simple 3D engine

9
Success Stories

• Genuinely got students more excited about
  Computer Science
• Small AP CS class, I was able to teach different
  things to different students, depending on their
  interests
• One special topics student studying at Electronic
  Visualization Lab next year
• Art department looking for fellow next year