Data Acquisition, Output Control, and Graphics: An Enhanced Lab for First-Year Computer Science

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This project will provide a new set of highly motivating experiences in the closed laboratory associated with CS1, the first-year computer science course. These labs will have students acquiring data from the external world (sensors, joystick, etc.), displaying and otherwise processing it, and controlling processes in the external world. This contrasts with the traditional programming labs associated with introductory computer science courses where students are often assigned a number of small exercises which do not have much intrinsic interest, do not bear much resemblance to the programs produced by professional programmers, engineers, or scientists, and have no consistent context (or connection). Our preliminary experience with a joystick lab during spring 1997 was quite successful; student reaction was enthusiastic. Many of the labs that we are planning will involve student teams rather than individual work. It is anticipated that these new lab experiences will significantly increase student motivation, since they will allow students to program the computer to work with real-world data, control external devices, and produce professional-looking graphic output. The lab exercises developed for this project will be deposited in various lab repositories and will be distributed through a number of other channels, including the World Wide Web.