A radical approach to teaching object-oriented programming

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Computer Science (31)This project adapts an introductory programming course originally developed at Brown University for use at Rhode Island College. This course is characterized by extensive use of graphics, very early object-orientation (encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism are all taught before such traditional topics as arithmetic and flow of control), and a strong emphasis on design. The materials need to be adapted because the student populations are very different; the original course is a large lecture course, and the new course is divided into separate classes with a maximum enrollment of 26; and the new course has a weekly in-class lab. The original course materials, including several chapters of a text, a complete set of slides, and programming assignments, have been thoroughly tested during the past six years at Brown. These materials will both interest students and give them a strong grounding in object-oriented principles. The project includes a detailed evaluation of the resulting course. By adapting and generalizing these materials, the project makes them accessible to more colleges and even high schools, which could have a broad impact on the way introductory programming is taught. Moreover, the design and results of the evaluation could be useful even to institutions that choose a different approach to teaching this course.