Collaborative Research: Program Visualization: Using Perceptual and Cognitive Concepts to Quantify Quality, Support Instruction, and Improve Interactions

许多程序员、教师和编程学生都有一个强烈的直觉信念，即可视化对于传达有关程序状态和行为的信息很有价值。 特别是在算法和数据结构领域，传统上被认为是计算机科学的核心领域，学生发现困难，算法动画的出现在CS教学社区创造了很大的期望，因为动画被认为是一种更好的方式来描绘算法的动态工作比使用纯静态媒体。 然而，一个明显的脱节之间存在着普遍的信念，在可视化的有用性和可视化的实际应用程度。 在这个项目中，PI将调查的假设，目前的光伏系统已经辜负了期望，因为他们在很大程度上忽略了有效观看的适当感知属性的问题，为了有效的光伏系统必须支持感知适当的动画，图形设计和布局，以及良好的教学设计。 为了解决这个问题，PI将识别和评估程序可视化的感知，注意力和认知方面，并将量化和分类这些结果。 他们将对教师如何教学进行观察性研究，以确定教师在准备和演示基于可视化的课程时执行的任务，并将开发改进的演示和交互技术，用于程序可视化和更普遍的过程可视化。 的PI期望的关键评价的影响的相关属性的PV，PV的质量指标的发展，并调整和评估模型的基础上，这些指标通过实证研究，将有助于提供规范化的参数，为未来的研究程序可视化的好处。更重要的是，这项工作将作为基础的设计准则，有效地利用光伏和其他形式的过程可视化。更广泛的影响：这个项目将推进知识的状态，在人机交互和感知心理学;将提供适用于程序可视化和过程可视化的设计指南，特别是对这些显示器的所有观众都有潜在的好处（学生，科学家和公众）;将使本科生和研究生参与计算机科学和感知心理学的研究;将包括代表性不足的群体的参与者（PI学生包括非洲裔美国人，亚洲人和女性）;并将产生将在期刊和会议记录中出现的出版物，以及将通过网络传播的软件和评价指标。

Many programmers, instructors, and programming students have a strong intuitive belief that visualization is valuable for communicating information about the state and behavior of programs. In particular, in the area of algorithms and data structures, traditionally regarded as a core area of computer science that students find difficult, the advent of algorithm animation created great expectations in the CS teaching community, as animation was seen as a better way to portray the dynamic workings of algorithms than was the use of purely static media. However, an apparent disconnect exists between the prevalence of a belief in the usefulness of visualization and the extent to which visualization is actually employed. In this project, the PIs will investigate the hypothesis that present PV systems have failed to live up to expectations because they have largely ignored the issue of appropriate perceptual properties for effective viewing, and that in order to be effective PV systems must support perceptually appropriate animation, graphical design and layout, as well as good pedagogical design. In order to address this problem, the PIs will identify and evaluate perceptual, attentional, and cognitive aspects of program visualization and will quantify and categorize these results. They will perform observational studies of how instructors teach in order to identify the tasks that instructors perform in preparing and presenting visualization-based lesson, and will develop improved presentation and interaction techniques for program visualization and more generally for process visualization. The PIs expect that critical evaluation of the effects of relevant attributes of PVs, the development of metrics for quality of PVs, and the tuning and evaluation of models based on these metrics through empirical studies, will serve to provide normalizing parameters for future studies of the benefits of program visualization. More importantly, this work will serve as the basis for design guidelines for the effective use of PV and other forms of process visualization.Broader Impacts: This project will advance the state of knowledge in human-computer interaction and perceptual psychology; will provide design guidelines applicable to program visualization and process visualization in particular, with potential benefit to all viewers of such displays (students, scientists, and the general public); will engage both undergraduate and graduate students in research in both computer science and perceptual psychology; will include participants from under-represented groups (the PIs students include African Americans, Asians, and women); and will result in publications that will appear in journals and conference proceedings, and in software and evaluation metrics that will be disseminated through the web.