Collaborative Research: Teaching Data Structures to the Millennial Generation

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This proposal focuses on novel approaches to teaching data structures to the Millennial Generation and on the development of tools to support them. The project addresses the communication of key concepts in the design and analysis of data structures, which are typically taught in a course known by the acronym CS2, as it is often the second course that a computer science student will take in their major. This course is full of powerful ideas that have many applications, yet key concepts are not properly appreciated by many students. This lack of enthusiasm is likely due to the fact that these concepts are often presented and justified in ways that do not resonate with the student's prior experiences and expectations. This project will take this historical approach and replace it with a more vibrant and visual approach that is just as rigorous and content led as the previous text-based approach, but is a better match to the way modern students learn.The components of the project are particularly focused on studying the use of multimedia, visual teaching styles, and motivating applications from society and the Internet. A fundamental goal is to teach computer science students of the Millennial Generation how to design and utilize data structures in a way that incorporates new technologies and shows the connection between topics being taught and their potential applications.