Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10. Craig Howie, “The Group Theory,” work of the University of Northern Colorado student
(©2004, C. Howie. Used with permission)
study of internal symmetry in structures called
simple or infinite groups. Group theory is the
abstraction of ideas common to many areas, so it
has many applications in mathematics, physics,
and chemistry. For this board game, the author
created symbols for the concepts, for example,
an algebraic operation as a sort of input-output
machine. Data were presented interactively, as
the learner might play with item configurations
to single out a chunk of data. The basic idea of
a Group is laid in the middle and all examples
of the Group abstraction were built from there.
Color was used to show properties of symmetry
in a group Cayley table showing a structure of
the group in a square table (Figure 10).
Figures 11, 12, and 13 present another ex-
ample of learning visually, this time for com-
puter science. It is a student project about the
basic structure of a programming language C++
(figures 11, 12, and 13). It was one of projects
aimed at learning visually subjects from different
disciplines that were learnt by the students at the
same time in other courses. The program was
written to explain the concept of programming
visually to the classmates in “Visual Thinking“
class at the University of Northern Colorado.
After Ben's presentation many students admitted
that programming did not seem that difficult or
confusing and they began learning programming
actively.
To show a visual learner how the basic struc-
ture of C++ works, Ben Hobgood connected the
user-defined elements of a simple C
++
program
with visual symbols. Using these visual represen-
tations he presented the topic of computer pro-
gramming to a diverse group of students and re-
ceived a positive reaction. He used pictures of a
cow to describe some simple aspects of the C++
class as an abstract data type. The class is used
in a program that asks for the pounds of food that
one wishes to feed a cow named Betsy, and it is
telling how many steaks can be made from her.
This graphical representation of C++ has a source
code and an executable to back it up; someone
who understands C++ may present it to an audi-
ence that has little or no programming experience.
The names of the files are in
italics.
