Carnegie To Make Computer Programming Fun

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