workshop using alice to stimulate learning in stem july 7, 2008 brenda parker computer science...

WorkshopWorkshopUsing Alice to Stimulate Using Alice to Stimulate

Learning in STEMLearning in STEM

WorkshopWorkshopUsing Alice to Stimulate Using Alice to Stimulate

Learning in STEMLearning in STEMJuly 7, 2008July 7, 2008

Brenda ParkerBrenda ParkerComputer Science DepartmentComputer Science Department

MTSUMTSU

July 7, 2008 Brenda Parker - Alice Workshop

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Welcome

• MTSU• Computer Science Department• Computer Lab – KOM 360• Alice Workshop


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Introduction• Introduce yourself to your

neighbor• Prepare to introduce your

neighbor to the class– Name– School– Interesting fact!


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Rules• Feel free to take a break when

needed• Restrooms are out the door to

your left in the main hallway• Feel free to ask questions


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Purpose of Workshop• Why is Computer Science Department

interested in an Alice Workshop for K-12 teachers?– We live in a technological age.– Tennessee is lacking in producing a

technological literate workforce!– Computer programs are everywhere– Programming is the new computer literacy!– Having a technology literate workforce will

be necessary for continued economic growth.


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Purpose of Workshop• Indicate methods for improving

technological literacy in K-12 schools• Provide networking facilities among K-

12 educators and the Computer Science department at MTSU

• Show how the Alice tool can be used to improve K-12 education (math and science)


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Purpose of Workshop• Why should we attempt to

improve technological literacy?– K-12 students MUST become more

computer literate to meet the technological demands of the future


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Workshop Agenda• Short explanations on Alice will be

given• Practice sessions will be interspersed

during the day• Short test after each practice session• Participants will be asked to

demonstrate their creations


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Part I – Alice BasicsAlice Workshop

• What is Alice?• Why use Alice?• Alice Basics – The Alice

Environment• Example Worlds• Alice Texts


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What is Alice?• Software

– Free– Educational programming language– Named after Lewis Carroll’s Alice in

Wonderland– offered by Carnegie Mellon University– Download at http://www.alice.org


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– uses a 3D programming environment – makes it easy to create an animation for

telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web.

– designed to be a student's first exposure to programming.

– allows students to populate a virtual world with objects (people, animals, vehicles, etc) and animate the objects


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– Allows the creation of passive and interactive animations• Passive animations (watch the resulting

video)• Interactive animation (user participates

in the animation – game)


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Why use Alice?• provides students with a fun way to

reinforce concepts studied in class• encourages creativity• promotes technological literacy• improves logical thinking• gives a gentle introduction to

programming( the new computer literacy)


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Alice Basics• Environment• How to Create a Passive Animation• How to Create an Interactive

Animation


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Object Tree

Details Panel Method Editor

Events Editor


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EnvironmentObject Tree Window

• Lists the predefined objects in the world– Camera– Light– Ground

• Lists objects placed by the user– Penguin– Snowman


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EnvironmentDetails Panel Window

• Shows information about selected object in the Object Tree

• Properties– Tell color, size, etc

• Methods– Each method does something (shows what the

object can do)– Penguin.flapWings

• Functions– Each function returns something

• Penguin’s width is 18.


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Practice I1. Place USB drive into your computer.2. Open Alice3. Close the Welcome Window 4. Set defaults5. Click on an object in the Object Tree6. Examine the Properties, Methods and

Functions associated with the selected object

Practice I Test1.

C

D

A

B

Practice Test I2. What is the purpose of the “methods” tab? (1 pt)3. What is the difference between “methods” and

“functions”? (1 pt)4. Name a property of the ground object. (1 pt)5. Name a method listed for the camera object. (1

pt)6. Name a function listed for the light object. (1 pt)7. How do we select an object? (1 pt)8. In the above picture, which object is selected? (1

pt)


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Alice BasicsHow to Create Passive

Animations• 4 Step Process to create an

animation– STEP 1: Choose a world– STEP 2: Choose objects for your world– STEP 3: Choose activities (methods)

for your objects– STEP 4: Play your animation


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STEP 1Choose your world

environment

1.Click FileNew World

2.Click Templates

3.Click desired World

4.Click OPEN


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STEP 2Choose Objects for your world

1. Click “Add Objects”


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2. Choose “Local Gallery”

ST


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3. Choose desired 4. Choose desired

gallery object


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5. Click “Add instance to World”


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STEP 2Choose Objects for your

world

6. Name objects if desired!Right click on object in the object tree and choose rename


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Step 2Choose Objects for your

world7. Position objects in your world

-Use “Click and Drag”

-Use sub-circuit buttons”


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Step 2Add Objects to your

World8. Click when all objects

have been added and positioned.


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Practice II1. Click FileNew World2. Choose Templates3. Choose a World4. Add Objects- Add at least 2 animals + 2

Nature5. Position Objects6. Rename objects, if desired7. Click DONE8. Save your world on your flash drive and call it

workshop1.a2w (FileSave World)

Practice II Test1. Name two classes found in the animal gallery. (1 pt)2. What is the first step in creating an animation in Alice? (1 pt)3. Name three types of worlds users may choose from when

creating an animation. (3 pts)4. What does “passive” animation mean? (1 pt)5. Explain how to rename an object.(1 pt)6. What do the following mouse controls buttons do? (3 pts)

7. What button should be pushed when all objects have been added and positioned? (1 pt)

8. How can you change the color of an object in your world? (1 pt)


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Step 3Choose activities

(methods) for your objects

1. Click on desired object in the Object Tree.

2. Choose desired method from the list of Methods.

3. Drag the desired method to the Editor Window.


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1. Click on desired object in the Object Tree.


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2. Click METHODSand choose desired method from the Method List for that object.


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3. Drag the desired method to the Editor Window.


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Step 4Play Animation

• Example Animationsedwards.htmlSnow_Man_Story.html


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Practice III1. Click on one object2. Click and drag 2 methods for that

object to the Editor Window3. Click on another object4. Click and drag 2 methods for that

object to the Editor Window5. Play your video!6. Save your world!

Practice III Test1.When creating activities for the objects in your

world, you must first ___________________________. (1 pt)

2. Which tab in the Details Panel should be chosen when choosing activities for the objects in your world? (1 pt)

3. When choosing activities for your objects, you should drag the desired _____ from the ______________ to the ___________(3 pts)

4.. What button should be selected to actually see your animation? (1 pt)

5. How many methods can be placed in the Editor Window? (2 pts)


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FYIIt is easy to create a picture from your

Alice world.How?1. Tell Alice where to save your picture

(FileEditPreferencesScreen GrabIndicate locationOK)

2. Click Play3. Click Pause4. Click Take Picture


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Alice Texts• Dann, Wanda, Cooper, Stephen,

Pausch, Randy, Learning to Program with Alice, Pearson Prentice Hall

• Gaddis, Tony, Starting Out with Alice,Addison Wesley


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Part II- Control StructuresAlice Workshop

• Do in order• Do together• Loop• Decision Structure


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Control Structures

• Do in order– Instructions placed inside this

structure will be executed in the order that they appear

– Example:


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Control Structures• Do in order

– Advantage• Easy to learn about sequential logic• Easy to delete a group of statements


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Control Structures

• Do together– Allows multiple actions to occur at

the same time– Provides an interesting effect!– Example: 4 penguins form a chorus

line!


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Control Structures• Loop

– Easy way to perform same instructions multiple times


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Control Structures• If Else


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Examplechorusline.a2wchorusline2.a2w


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Practice IV1. Add two control structure to your

object2. Use Loop or Do together or Do in

order3. Save your video4. Play your video5. Save a picture, if desired!

Practice IV Test1. How do you change the default settings in Alice? (2 pts)2. What is the purpose of “Screen Grab”? (1 pt)3. Why would you want to change the default setting in

Alice? (1 pt)4. Name two advantages for using the “Do in order”

control structure. (4 pts)5. What is the purpose of the “Do together” structure? (1

pt)6. What is a “Loop”? (1 pt)7. Where on the Alice screen are the control structures

located? (1 pt)8. Name 4 control structures found in Alice. (4 pts)9. How do you save a picture of your world in Alice? (2

pts)10. When instructed to do so, where does Alice save a

picture of your world? (2 pts)11. When a world picture is saved, what file name is the

picture given? (2 pts)


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LUNCH• KOM 321


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Part II Advanced Concepts in Alice

• World Custom Methods• Manipulating the Camera• Event Programming


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World Custom Methods• Created by the user• Used to break up large complex

methods into smaller more manageable methods

• Example: Our penguin world method was getting large – let’s divide it up!


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Penguin Storyboard• 4 penguins bow• 4 penguins dance simultaneously• 4 penguins bow

Let’s create a method called bow and a method called dance


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Custom World MethodHow to create and use Custom

World Methods1. Name the method2. Write the method3. Call the method


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Custom World Method1. Name the method

1. Click on World in the Object Tree2. Click on create new method in the

World’s Details Panel3. Name the method


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Custom World Method2. Write the method• Place desired methods in the new

method editor window• Example (use methods to lower

and raise the penguins’ heads)


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Custom World Method3. Call the method.

Click on world

object and clickon world.myfirstmethod tab. Dragmethod to the editor window


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Practice V1. Add a custom world method to your

Alice world.– Click world in the Object Tree– Click create new method– Name the method (give it a good name)– Write the method– Call the method from world.myfirstmethod

2. Play the new video3. Save the video

Practice V Test1.What is the difference between “primitive”

methods and custom methods? (1 pt)2. Give two reasons that custom methods are

often used in Alice, (4 pts)3. What is the name of the method that is

executed when your animation first begins? (1 pt)

4. What are the three steps for creating custom world methods? (3 pts)

5.What does “call” the method mean? (2 pts)6. How are custom methods “called”? (1 pt)


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How to Create Interactive Animation

Event Programming• Interactive

– User participates while the video is playing

– When the user clicks mouse or presses a key, an event occurs.

• Example: Typing lesson (cat.a2w)


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Event Programming1. Click “create new event” in the

Events Editor Window2. Choose desired event3. Create methods to handle each

event4. Play and save video


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Example: cat.a2w


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World.T method


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Practice VI• Add an Event to your Alice world

– Create a new world method to be executed when the event occurs and name it properly

– Drag the instructions for the new method to the editor window

– Click “create new event” in the Events Editor window

– Choose desired event and make sure the new world method is called when the event occurs

• Play animation• Save and Play your animation

Practice VI Test1. What is the difference between “interactive” and

“passive” animations? (1 pt)2. Interactive animations are created in Alice creating a/an

___________.(1 pt). 3. _________________ run __________________ when certain

things happen like a key is pressed or the mouse is clicked. on an object.

4. Show the specific instruction that should be used for each of the following scenarios. (1 pt each)

a. We wish to move a penguin when a number is typed on the keyboard

b. We wish to move a penguin when the mouse is click on the penguin

c. We wish to allow the mouse to move the penguin d. We wish the arrow keys to move the penguin. e. Allow the mouse to control the camera location5. If we want a custom method called “jump” to be

executed each time the mouse is clicked on a penguin, what must we do first? (1 pt)


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Part IIIUsing Alice in the

classroom• Advice• Math • Science


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classroom• Advice

– Give VERY short lessons on Alice– Encourage lab time in pairs– Alice has excellent tutorials – Allow students to change previous worlds– Begin small

• Delay or omit custom functions• Do very little Control Structures• Event programming is more difficult


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classroom• Advice After downloading Alice, change the default

setting, if desired . Click EDITPreferences on the menu


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classroom• Advice – Changing Preferences


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classroom• MATH - SCIENCE

– Display math/science question and allow users to answer the question (mathquiz.a2w and mathquiz2.a2w )

– Create conversations between objects (spacequiz.a2w)

– Create stories of famous mathematicians/scientists


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mathquiz2.a2w• Creating a movie file with Alice

mathquiz2.avi

HINT: I used AviScreen Classic available from www.bobyte.com to produce the avi file!


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classroom• Suggestions given by 8th Graders

– Book Reports– Use as a visual in their History Day projects– Create character education movies for

younger children– Create advertisements for school program

(fundraisers, field trips, special events)


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classroom• Suggestions given by 8th Graders

– Any/all class projects (science, social studies, etc.)

– A new media for Art classes– Public service announcements (a way

to teach handbook rules)


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Other Alice Features• Import sound into an Alice World• Export as a web page• Export as a movie• Record sound to be placed in the

animation• Create games• Move camera• Create Billboards


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Part IVReferences

• http://aliceprogramming.net– Helpful information on Teaching with Alice

• http://alice.org– Download Alice

• http://visualization.sju.edu– Archive of Alice newsletters, grants, useful

information


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Part IVReferences

• http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/alice/– Workshop materials & tutorials

• http://www.cis.uab.edu/programs/alice-festival/– Alice Contest in UAB


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Part IVReferences

• http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/BiogIndex.html– Index of famous Mathematicians

• http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytelling/index.html– Download StoryTelling Alice (appeals

to middle school students)


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Part IVReferences

• http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/des/demos/Animations.html– Screen shots of student Alice worlds

• http://www.cis.uab.edu/gray/Pubs/npr-4-3-07.mp3– Interview on NPR radio regarding UAB’s K-12

outreach efforts in Alabama (5 minute discussion on CS education, job market, Alice)


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Part IVReferences

• Randy Pausch – Carnegie Mellon professor gives The Last Lecture with comments regarding Alice

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo


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Class DemonstrationsVolunteers????


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Evaluation and Door Prizes

Thank you for your support today! Hope you can use Alice to encourage technological literacy and at the same time reinforce topics discussed in your classroom.

workshop using alice to stimulate learning in stem july 7, 2008 brenda parker computer science...

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