Incorporating Alice into a Summer Math and Science Outreach Program

Incorporating Alice into a Summer Math and Science Outreach Program

Eileen M. PelusoLycoming CollegeWilliamsport, PA 17701Incorporating Alice into a Summer Math and Science Outreach ProgramElizabeth MauchBloomsburg UniversityBloomsburg, PA 17815

OverviewHow it all beganProgram structureMSSE 2007MSSE 2008ResultsAlice contentLessons learnedFuture plansAcknowledgementsHow it all beganHi Elizabeth,I'm a Bloom alum ('73) and I see from the most recent University Magazine that you are planning summer experiences for young women in late June. I have a strong interest in gender issues in technology in general, and in computer science in particular, and I've done enough research to know that they start to lose interest in middle school. It is through enrichment/outreach programs such as yours that we can start to make a difference. From your website, it appears that you have everything planned out, but if you could use some extra help, I'd be more than happy to participate.

Eileen M. Peluso, PhDChair, Mathematical Sciences Department

05/09/2007Program Structure MSSE 2007All girls middle school ageOne 2-hour sessionTwo groups of about 20 eachPortable laptop labClassroom with tablesComputer projectionSelf-selected groups of 2-3, generally Demonstrate and work alongSaved worlds to the desktopBurned to CDs after the session ended

Program Structure MSSE 2008Four 1-hour sessionsTwo groups of about 20 each rotated between 3 subject areasOne group all girls, the other mixedMiddle school ageTraditional labComputer projectionEveryone chose to work individuallyMixture of demonstrate-and-work-along and independent workSaved worlds on donated thumb drivesCollected each day until the lastResultsWhat makes MSSE different?MSSE 2007 much to everyones surpriseMSSE 2008 invited back to be one of threeSurveysFalls into the what-can-we-do-better category82 students in all56 indicated that they liked Alice the best and would return for more studyThats 68.3% of students who selected a Math and Science Summer Experience!

Links (added after the symposium)Links to the materials used in the Alice sessions of Bloomsburg Universitys Math and Science Summer ExperienceComputer Programming through Animation with Alice - http://www.lycoming.edu/~pelusoem/SummerOutreach/BU2008.htmStorytelling using Computer Animation with Alice - http://www.lycoming.edu/~pelusoem/SummerOutreach/BU2007.htmFor an excellent summary of the gender-related issues in computer science, the research done, and ideas for dealing with the issues, I highly recommend the following:Klawe, M., Whitney, T., and Simard, C. 2009. Women in Computing Take 2. Commun ACM. 52, 2 (Feb 2009), 68-76.

Alice ContentDetailed descriptions and links to resources are in the paperLesson plansHandoutsDAY 1: He-builder or She-builder character with two petsIntroducing classes and objects, built-in methods, method calls and parameters, sequential processing, doTogether, user interaction, Boolean variables, if/else, and quad-view

Alice ContentDAY 2: Mr. and Mrs. SnowmanWriting our own methods (rumba, surprise, and blush)Motivated discussion of object sub-parts, loops, and the color property

Alice ContentDAY 3: kanagrooRobot and alienOnWheelsEvent processing, camera movement, and the vehicle property

Students who worked faster entertained themselves by adding more to their worldsFree time: Build an obstacle course with a character that the user moves through

Alice ContentDAY 4: Discussion of trial-and-error approach to programmingDetermining an objects center and orientation

Storyboarding and free time to implement their storylines

method callturn (left or right)turn (forward or backward)roll (left or right)axis that does NOT moveuprightforwardNote that the calls below are done by clicking and dragging the axes object from the Object Tree over the image and selecting the methods.Add an axes object to your animation. (Resize if necessary.)Call axes.moveTo method to the objectCall axes.orientTo method to the objectCall axes.setVehicleTo method to the objectFuture PlansMSSE 2009 expands to a two-week programWeek 1 Advanced Alice for returning studentsWeek 2 MSSE 2008 will be reprised for new studentsPre- and post- survey forms targeting student attitudes about programming and computer science Spring 2010 inreach programDevelop and teach a 2-week unit in Alice in area schoolsGoals:Introduce Alice to a large number of young peopleEducate area technology teachers in the Alice programming environment and its usePre- and post- survey forms targeting student attitudes about programming and computer scienceLessons LearnedDont try to teach a session if you are the camp administratorDont go to the campus commons for lunch every dayProvide convenient storage for their worldsArrange for a lab assistant

AcknowledgementsThank you to the following organizations for their financial support:Mathematical Association of AmericaAmerican Association of University WomenThe Central Susquehanna Community FoundationThe Bloomsburg University FoundationBloomsburg University