Lab-Based Teaching - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 148

course should be dedicated to this topic. If time constrains do not allow it, some
of the exploration work should be done by the students at home as a preparation
toward the lesson.
Activity 64: Algorithm Visualization
• Stage A: Increasing students' attention to visualization
The instructor presents to the students a text that describes an algorithm
with which (it is reasonable to assume) they are familiar, for example, one
of the sort, search or traverse algorithms. Then, the instructor presents the
following tasks:
− Represent the given algorithm differently. (One option that will be
probably suggested by the students is to represent it visually).
− Suggest different visualization ways to present the algorithm.
After the students' suggestions are discussed, they are asked to work on
the following task:
− Find an animation of this algorithm on the Internet and explore differ-
ences between the given text description of the algorithm and its anima-
tion. Explore these differences also from a pedagogical perspective.
• Stage B: Design a visualization-based worksheet, group work
The students are asked to design a worksheet that teaches the said algo-
rithm to novice computer science learners and uses the algorithm ani-
mation they found on the Web. The students can choose to develop a
worksheet which is either based on the lab-first approach (see Sect. 8.8.3
above) or based on the regular approach applied in the lab after the learn-
ers were introduced to the algorithm in the class. The students should be
asked also to explain each of their considerations in the design process
of the worksheet.
• Stage C: Introducing Nap's (extended) Engagement Taxonomy, class
discussion
The instructor of the MTCS course:
− Presents Nap's Engagement Taxonomy (see above) to the students
(alternatively, the extended taxonomy can be presented).
− Completes Table 8.3 together with the students with respect to general
algorithm animation.
• Stage D: Examination of questions' potential contribution to learners'
learning, group work
Each group categorizes the questions it included in the worksheet designed
in Stage B according to Nap's Engagement Taxonomy and examines each
question's potential contribution to learners' learning of the said computer
science topic. If needed, the students are asked to update or modify the
questions based on this examination.