skip to main content
10.1145/1176617.1176739acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagessplashConference Proceedingsconference-collections
Article

Hello, M.U.P.P.E.T.S.: using a 3D collaborative virtual environment to motivate fundamental object-oriented learning

Published: 22 October 2006 Publication History

Abstract

With the advent of the objects-first approach for introductory programming, instructors are challenged to think differently regarding the projects and exercises they create for their classrooms. The objects-first approach reduces the emphasis on syntax and encourages the student to focus upon the proper construction and use of classes. This change in emphasis means that students must understand the relationships between classes within a code solution and how such relationships affect the overall design of a system. Unfortunately, such critical thinking exercises can prove challenging to the introductory student, especially if presented in an manner. In this paper, the authors examine how fundamental principles such as inheritance, composition, and association can be conveyed to introductory programming students within a collaborative virtual environment. The examples chosen follow established guidelines for objects-first examples while leveraging features of an engaging, three-dimensional interactive environment.

References

[1]
ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula. Computing Curricula 2001: Computer Science, December, 2001
[2]
Alphonce, C. and Ventura, P. Object Orientation in CS1-CS2 by Design, In Proc. of the 7th Annual ITiCSE Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, 2002, 70--74
[3]
Alphonce C. and Ventura, P. Using Graphics to Support Teaching of Fundamental Object Oriented Principles, In OOPSLA 2003 Educator's Consortium Companion, 2003, 156--161
[4]
Bierre, K. and Phelps, A. The Use of M.U.P.P.E.T.S. in an Introductory Java Programming Course, In Proc. of the 5th Annual SIGITE Conference, 2004, 122--127.
[5]
de Raadt, M., Watson, R., and Toleman, M. Introductory Programming: What's Happening Today and Will There Be Any Students to Teach Tomorrow?, Proc. of the 6th ACE Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2004, 277--282
[6]
Duvall, R., Chotin, M., Neuringer, M., Goldberg, D., and d van Dam, A. Object-Oriented Programming Chapters (draft): Online: http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs015/2001/Chapters/contents.html
[7]
Guzdial, M. and Soloway, E. Log on Education: Teaching the Nintendo Generation how to Program, Communications of the ACM, 45(4), 2002
[8]
Kölling, M. and Rosenberg, J. Guidelines for Teaching Object Orientation with Java, In Proc. of the 6th Annual ITiCSE Conference, Canterbury, UK, 2001, 33--36
[9]
Phelps, A., Bierre, K., and Parks, D. M.U.P.P.E.T.S: Multi-user Programming Pedagogy for Enhancing Traditional Study, In Proc. of the 4th CITC Conference, 2003, 100--105
[10]
Sun Microsystems. Java Technology Home Page: Online: http://www.javasoft.com
[11]
Ventura, P. On the Origins of Programmers: Identifying Predictors of Success for an Objects First CS1. Ph.D. Thesis, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 2003.

Cited By

View all
  • (2009)WiiLabProceedings of the 39th IEEE international conference on Frontiers in education conference10.5555/1733663.1733983(1373-1378)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2009
  • (2009)WiiLab: Bringing together the Nintendo Wiimote and MATLAB2009 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference10.1109/FIE.2009.5350509(1-6)Online publication date: Oct-2009
  • (2008)Game design and development studentsProceedings of the 3rd international conference on Game development in computer science education10.1145/1463673.1463675(6-10)Online publication date: 27-Feb-2008
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Hello, M.U.P.P.E.T.S.: using a 3D collaborative virtual environment to motivate fundamental object-oriented learning

      Recommendations

      Comments

      Information & Contributors

      Information

      Published In

      cover image ACM Conferences
      OOPSLA '06: Companion to the 21st ACM SIGPLAN symposium on Object-oriented programming systems, languages, and applications
      October 2006
      530 pages
      ISBN:159593491X
      DOI:10.1145/1176617
      • General Chair:
      • Peri Tarr,
      • Program Chair:
      • William R. Cook
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

      Sponsors

      Publisher

      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      Published: 22 October 2006

      Permissions

      Request permissions for this article.

      Check for updates

      Author Tags

      1. graphics
      2. programming education
      3. virtual worlds

      Qualifiers

      • Article

      Conference

      OOPSLA06
      Sponsor:

      Upcoming Conference

      Contributors

      Other Metrics

      Bibliometrics & Citations

      Bibliometrics

      Article Metrics

      • Downloads (Last 12 months)2
      • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
      Reflects downloads up to 15 Feb 2025

      Other Metrics

      Citations

      Cited By

      View all
      • (2009)WiiLabProceedings of the 39th IEEE international conference on Frontiers in education conference10.5555/1733663.1733983(1373-1378)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2009
      • (2009)WiiLab: Bringing together the Nintendo Wiimote and MATLAB2009 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference10.1109/FIE.2009.5350509(1-6)Online publication date: Oct-2009
      • (2008)Game design and development studentsProceedings of the 3rd international conference on Game development in computer science education10.1145/1463673.1463675(6-10)Online publication date: 27-Feb-2008
      • (2008)Role-Play Virtual EnvironmentsProceedings of the 3rd European conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Times of Convergence: Technologies Across Learning Contexts10.1007/978-3-540-87605-2_3(27-32)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2008

      View Options

      Login options

      View options

      PDF

      View or Download as a PDF file.

      PDF

      eReader

      View online with eReader.

      eReader

      Figures

      Tables

      Media

      Share

      Share

      Share this Publication link

      Share on social media