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

这个项目将提供一套新的高度激励的经验，在封闭的实验室与CS1，第一年的计算机科学课程。这些实验室将让学生从外部世界（传感器，操纵杆等）获取数据，显示和处理它，并控制外部世界的进程。这与传统的计算机科学入门课程相关的编程实验室形成鲜明对比，在传统的计算机科学入门课程中，学生经常被分配一些没有太多内在兴趣的小练习，与专业程序员，工程师或科学家制作的程序没有太多相似之处，并且没有一致的上下文（或连接）。我们在1997年春季的操纵杆实验室的初步经验是相当成功的，学生的反应是热情的。我们计划的许多实验室将涉及学生团队而不是个人工作。预计这些新的实验室体验将大大提高学生的积极性，因为它们将允许学生对计算机进行编程，以处理真实世界的数据，控制外部设备，并生成专业外观的图形输出。为该项目编制的实验练习将存放在各种实验室资料库中，并将通过包括万维网在内的其他一些渠道分发。

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.