A graphics-based approach to data structures

Abstract

The ĭǽ· project was designed to educate students in undergra-duate computer science courses through the study of and solution to large-scale problems in computer graphics. Our ultimate aim is that this approach would be applied to all computer science courses in the B.A. curriculum. In the first years of this project, we have been working on the foundational sequence, which includes CS1, CS2, and CS3 (data structures and advanced programming). For this last course, which also includes the study of algorithms in our curriculum, we present an approach to teaching data structure concepts using advanced graphics algorithms. The results thus far have been promising, and we are continuing to evaluate and en-hance the approach.