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Doing the same thing differently marks a success story. The
Carnegie Melon University continues to live up to this reputation by planning to
incorporate characters and animation from the popular video game 'The Sims'
in its free educational software that strives to make computer programming more
appealing to students.
The university will use the animation to enliven the next
version of Alice, a teaching program developed over the past decade and used at
more than 60 colleges and universities and about 100 high schools, said Randy
Pausch, a computer science professor and director of the Alice Project.
Before you brush this off as just another humbug, Pausch
says, “This is not some little crumb that got tossed. This is the most
valuable intellectual property owned by the largest video game maker in the
world.” A 2005 University of California, Los Angeles study found there had
been a 50% drop in computer science majors over the previous four years.
The Alice programming language is designed to make abstract
concepts concrete for first-time programmers, using three-dimensional images of
things such as people or animals that can be controlled by clicking and dragging
words with a computer mouse. Those words form a program.
While Alice has proven effective, its characters and
animation remain rudimentary, Pausch said. The animation is expected to
transform Alice from a crude three-dimensional programming tool into a more
compelling programming environment. The effort to revamp Alice is intended to
boost interest in computer programming among students. Steve Seabolt, vice
president of the Redwood City, California-based company, said “by marrying the
characters, animations and playful style of 'The Sims' to Alice, we are
helping make computer science fun for a new generation of creative leaders.”
Source: Yahoo.com
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