Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
composition of the artwork reflect possible ac-
tions in interactive and interdisciplinary format.
A biology-related pattern shows up and returns,
like a theme or a refrain in a musical composition.
Several institutions such as Colleges of Art or
Art Institutes offer courses that teach one kind of
software, providing competence about the tool.
However, needs for creativity require more: that
one can search for what is available, understand
constraits and options, jump between applications,
combine them not being afraid of introducing
legally acceptable changes in usage, acquire a
holistic insight into the entire project, all the time
having in mind its aesthetics, functionality, and
usability. Job opportunities often require that the
applicant is creative not only artistically but also
technologically. This means this person is open
to use pre-made tools in a creative way, not nec-
essarily having a strong knowledge of math,
computer science, and sciences. With that perspec-
tive, the Education Committee at the ACM/SIG-
GRAPH International Conferences on Computer
Graphics and Interactive Techniques used to invite
the highschool students and ask the faculty mem-
bers to arrange informative tours at the conference
and exhibition venues. They developed this men-
toring program stressing the need to involve girls
and minority students.
Another concept that deserves our attention is
an Open Source approach to designing, developing
and distributing software, which allows for a peer
production of a source code for an open-source
software that is available for public collaboration.
A user has accessibility to a software source code,
and may introduce legally, with relaxed or non-
existing copyright restrictions, the small changes
in an already existing code, to adapt the program to
one's own needs, and thus use, change, or improve
the software. Through the Internet, it provides ac-
cess to various production models, communication
paths, and interactive communities. A number of
posting services offer opportunities for building
a website without knowing software or having
expertise in the field, while other applications al-
low even more sophisticated content management,
which otherwise would require technical thinking.
THE ROLE OF IMAGINATION IN
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Using one's imagination can enhance the process
of learning or creating a project. One can achieve
it with two approaches in mind: through applying
design strategies into organizing and understand-
ing concepts, or through artistic creation inspired
by the material one needs to learn or to apply in a
project. One may create an artistic project in order
to present intended material in a pictorial way and
then use it for a creative product.
Imagination skills are important when one
works on developing a computer-based data visu-
alization, information visualization, or knowledge
visualization. With imaginative thinking one can
discover visual metaphors for abstract data, infor-
mation, or concepts, and develop various kinds of
visualization, for example, tag-cloud visualization
of data. Imaginative approach to natural events
and forces resulted in the development of many
fields of research such as fractal geometry of
nature, biology-inspired computing, and artificial
life. A thorough study of nature results in creating
metaphors for developing computing methods
such as artificial neuronal networks, evolutionary
algorithms, swarm intelligence, and also genetic
engineering techniques and bio-inspired hardware
systems. In the arts, evolutionary computing
resulted in creating generative art and the devel-
opments in biology-inspired design, art, music,
architecture, and other artistic fields. Interactive
evolutionary design and art developed through
analyzing natural images, forms, and motions lead
to new approaches in defining aesthetic criteria,
not only in terms of the beauty but also the ef-
fectiveness and usability of an artwork.
Developing imagination seems to be important
for teachers and instructional designers because
problem-solving and intuitive decision-making
