Beyond Minecraft: Facilitating Computational Thinking through Modeling and Programming in 3D

Author

Repenning, Alexander ; Webb, David C. ; Brand, Christoph ; Gluck, Fred ; Grover, Ryan ; Miller, Steven ; Nickerson, Hilarie ; Muyang Song

Author_Institution

Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

34

Issue

3

fYear

2014

fDate

May-June 2014

Firstpage

68

Lastpage

71

Abstract

Visual programming in 3D sounds much more appealing than programming in 2D, but what are its benefits? Here, University of Colorado Boulder educators discuss the differences between 2D and 3D regarding three concepts connecting computer graphics to computer science education: ownership, spatial thinking, and syntonicity.

Keywords

computer games; solid modelling; visual programming; 3D modelling; 3D programming; Minecraft; University of Colorado Boulder educators; computational thinking; computer graphics; computer science education; ownership; spatial thinking; syntonicity; visual programming; Computational modeling; Educational institutions; Games; Programming profession; Solid modeling; Three-dimensional displays; 3D design; 3D programming; AgentCubes; AgentSheets; Computational modeling; Educational institutions; Games; Programming profession; Solid modeling; Three-dimensional displays; computational thinking; computer graphics; computer programming; computer science education; conversational programming; graphics; spatial thinking; syntonicity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0272-1716

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MCG.2014.46

Filename

6813968