Engineering Education Improvement Opportunities Using Computer Games

This paper deals with differences between thinking styles of the new generation and previous one affected by information technologies in framework of engineering graphics education in Riga Technical University. This article deals with specific aspects of engineering graphics teaching and key principles of the educational computer games. Recommendations are offered for improvement of engineering graphics education and quality of teaching using computer games. Various models of games are offered according to intended learning objectives

Computer Graphics Education at the Faculty of Informatics of Kansai University

This paper describes the Computer Graphics education at the Faculty of Informatics, which is newly established in 1994, of Kansai University. This faculty focuses on inter-academic research and educational fields related to "information," which involves science, engineering, sociology, economics, politics, and so on. Recently, Computer Graphics has been playing an important role in visualizing several kinds of information, so that fundamental education in Computer Graphics will be required in every field. The resulting educational problem in this faculty concerns the different motivations, goals, backgrounds and skills of students should be educated equally in the same classes. To solve this problem, a multi-modal curriculum involving one lecture and two laboratory sessions for 3-D Computer Graphics has been established as the most effective way to diseminate knowledge and skills for all students. The hardware and software environments for laboratory sessions are considered, and the validity of the educational system is evaluated in the preliminary laboratory session and private seminar using a high-end graphics system during 1995

On the Provision of a Comprehensive Computer Graphics Education in the Context of Computer Games

Position paper for the ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Computer Graphics Education Workshop 200

Computer graphics as the composition of professional activities of the modern specialist

У статті розглянуто актуальність використання комп'ютерної графіки у професійній діяльності сучасного фахівця, наведено результати аналізу існуючих методик навчання основ комп'ютерної графіки сучасних фахівців на предмет відповідності вимогам державного стандарту вищої освіти. Стаття містить пропозиції щодо підвищення ефективності навчання основам комп'ютерної графіки шляхом упровадження методичної системи, що у своєму макропідході будуватиметься не тільки на основі інструментарію програми, а й забезпечить можливість урахування специфіки професійної діяльності сучасних фахівців та ієрархічну побудову змісту навчання основ комп'ютерної графіки.The article considers the urgency of using computer graphics in the professional activity of modern specialist, presents the results of analysis of existing methods of training the basics of computer graphics of modern specialists for the subject of compliance with the requirements of the state standard of higher education. The article contains suggestions on improving the effectiveness of learning the basics of computer graphics by introducing a methodological system that in its macro approach will be based not only on the basis of the toolkit of the program, but also will enable taking into account the specifics of the professional activities of modern specialists and the hierarchical construction of the content of the training of computer graphics

Computer graphics as the composition of professional activities of the modern specialist

У статті розглянуто актуальність використання комп'ютерної графіки у професійній діяльності сучасного фахівця, наведено результати аналізу існуючих методик навчання основ комп'ютерної графіки сучасних фахівців на предмет відповідності вимогам державного стандарту вищої освіти. Стаття містить пропозиції щодо підвищення ефективності навчання основам комп'ютерної графіки шляхом упровадження методичної системи, що у своєму макропідході будуватиметься не тільки на основі інструментарію програми, а й забезпечить можливість урахування специфіки професійної діяльності сучасних фахівців та ієрархічну побудову змісту навчання основ комп'ютерної графіки.The article considers the urgency of using computer graphics in the professional activity of modern specialist, presents the results of analysis of existing methods of training the basics of computer graphics of modern specialists for the subject of compliance with the requirements of the state standard of higher education. The article contains suggestions on improving the effectiveness of learning the basics of computer graphics by introducing a methodological system that in its macro approach will be based not only on the basis of the toolkit of the program, but also will enable taking into account the specifics of the professional activities of modern specialists and the hierarchical construction of the content of the training of computer graphics

The relationship between students' learning preferences and multimedia presentation preference

As our country is moving into a knowledge-based economy, the challenge today for educators is how to create and utilize computer-mediated technologies for enhanced learning process. However, there is still little evidence that supports computer-mediated technologies in Malaysian education. Thus, this study intended to examine the relationship between students’ learning preferences and the use of multimedia presentation graphics in the classroom atmosphere. There are number of studies that have been carried out on the use of multimedia elements in teaching but only a few studies have explored the link between students’ learning preferences and computer-mediate technology. The study was done based on Students Learning Preferences (VAK Inventory/Visual-Auditory-Kinetics Inventory) and Multimedia Presentation Graphics Scale (MPG). The participants of this study were students from two major courses namely Fundamental Multimedia taken by students majoring in multimedia and e-commerce, and World Wide Web (WWW) Technology courses taken as a minor subject for finance students. These participants consist of 286 students from 1st year students to 4th year students. The findings show that in some cases, that our participants indeed enjoyed the use of computer-mediated graphics in their class, whereas in other cases found that it was the use of computer-mediated graphics in business courses taught with computers, draws little participation from the students. In conclusion, the existing computer-mediated presentation graphic has inadvertently created an innovative way to learning, as well as enhancing students’ understanding on the subject being taught. Thus, this study aimed to provide the basic understanding of harmonizing computer-mediated graphic into business courses in general

HOLOGRAPHICS: Combining Holograms with Interactive Computer Graphics

Among all imaging techniques that have been invented throughout the last decades, computer graphics is one of the most successful tools today. Many areas in science, entertainment, education, and engineering would be unimaginable without the aid of 2D or 3D computer graphics. The reason for this success story might be its interactivity, which is an important property that is still not provided efficiently by competing technologies – such as holography. While optical holography and digital holography are limited to presenting a non-interactive content, electroholography or computer generated holograms (CGH) facilitate the computer-based generation and display of holograms at interactive rates [2,3,29,30]. Holographic fringes can be computed by either rendering multiple perspective images, then combining them into a stereogram [4], or simulating the optical interference and calculating the interference pattern [5]. Once computed, such a system dynamically visualizes the fringes with a holographic display. Since creating an electrohologram requires processing, transmitting, and storing a massive amount of data, today’s computer technology still sets the limits for electroholography. To overcome some of these performance issues, advanced reduction and compression methods have been developed that create truly interactive electroholograms. Unfortunately, most of these holograms are relatively small, low resolution, and cover only a small color spectrum. However, recent advances in consumer graphics hardware may reveal potential acceleration possibilities that can overcome these limitations [6]. In parallel to the development of computer graphics and despite their non-interactivity, optical and digital holography have created new fields, including interferometry, copy protection, data storage, holographic optical elements, and display holograms. Especially display holography has conquered several application domains. Museum exhibits often use optical holograms because they can present 3D objects with almost no loss in visual quality. In contrast to most stereoscopic or autostereoscopic graphics displays, holographic images can provide all depth cues—perspective, binocular disparity, motion parallax, convergence, and accommodation—and theoretically can be viewed simultaneously from an unlimited number of positions. Displaying artifacts virtually removes the need to build physical replicas of the original objects. In addition, optical holograms can be used to make engineering, medical, dental, archaeological, and other recordings—for teaching, training, experimentation and documentation. Archaeologists, for example, use optical holograms to archive and investigate ancient artifacts [7,8]. Scientists can use hologram copies to perform their research without having access to the original artifacts or settling for inaccurate replicas. Optical holograms can store a massive amount of information on a thin holographic emulsion. This technology can record and reconstruct a 3D scene with almost no loss in quality. Natural color holographic silver halide emulsion with grain sizes of 8nm is today’s state-of-the-art [14]. Today, computer graphics and raster displays offer a megapixel resolution and the interactive rendering of megabytes of data. Optical holograms, however, provide a terapixel resolution and are able to present an information content in the range of terabytes in real-time. Both are dimensions that will not be reached by computer graphics and conventional displays within the next years – even if Moore’s law proves to hold in future. Obviously, one has to make a decision between interactivity and quality when choosing a display technology for a particular application. While some applications require high visual realism and real-time presentation (that cannot be provided by computer graphics), others depend on user interaction (which is not possible with optical and digital holograms). Consequently, holography and computer graphics are being used as tools to solve individual research, engineering, and presentation problems within several domains. Up until today, however, these tools have been applied separately. The intention of the project which is summarized in this chapter is to combine both technologies to create a powerful tool for science, industry and education. This has been referred to as HoloGraphics. Several possibilities have been investigated that allow merging computer generated graphics and holograms [1]. The goal is to combine the advantages of conventional holograms (i.e. extremely high visual quality and realism, support for all depth queues and for multiple observers at no computational cost, space efficiency, etc.) with the advantages of today’s computer graphics capabilities (i.e. interactivity, real-time rendering, simulation and animation, stereoscopic and autostereoscopic presentation, etc.). The results of these investigations are presented in this chapter

Do Robots Dream of Virtual Sheep: Rediscovering the "Karel the Robot" Paradigm for the "Plug&Play Generation"

We introduce ”C-Sheep”, an educational system designed to teach students the fundamentals of computer programming in a novel and exciting way. Recent studies suggest that computer science education is fast approaching a crisis - application numbers for degree courses in the area of computer programming are down, and potential candidates are put off the subject which they do not fully understand. We address this problem with our system by providing the visually rich virtual environment of ”The Meadow”, where the user writes programs to control the behaviour of a sheep using our ”CSheep” programming language. This combination of the ”Karel the Robot” paradigm with modern 3D computer graphics techniques, more commonly found in computer games, aims to help students to realise that computer programming can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience and intends to help educators with the teaching of computer science fundamentals. Our mini-language-like system for computer science education uses a state of the art rendering engine offering features more commonly found in entertainment systems. The scope of the mini-language is designed to fit in with the curriculum for the first term of an introductory computer program ming course (using the C programming language)

Training of Pre-Service Teachers of Computer Science in Computer Graphics

The article is devoted to the issue of teaching computer graphics to students of computer science at pedagogical universities, which is related to the development of information and communication technologies and modern trends in education. Based on a survey conducted with the participation of the authors of more than 250 representatives of IT companies and computer science teachers, it has been determined what life competences should be formed by teachers in students within computer science classes according to the requirements of the labour market, which sections of computer graphics are promising for student learning and therefore important for training of pre-service teachers of computer science. The content of computer graphics training for pre-service teachers of computer science at five pedagogical universities of Ukraine is analysed, the system of computer graphics training for pre-service teachers of computer science at the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University is described. Besides, the structure is presented and the need for the introduction of a specially developed electronic training course for distance learning of pre-service teachers of computer science is defined. It is determined which components of the information and digital competence of pre-service teachers of computer science the course in computer graphics should be aimed at. It is noted that this course contributes to the formation of important informationdigital and professional competences, which are necessary for a modern specialist in the field of computer graphics as well as for a pre-service computer science teacher. The teachers who took part in the survey emphasised that they lacked qualification in dealing with such methodological issues as active methods of teaching computer science (51.1%), the cognitive-research method (44.8%), the educational project method (41.6%) etc

The importance of being accessible: The graphics calculator in mathematics education

The first decade of the availability of graphics calculators in secondary schools has just concluded, although evidence for this is easier to find in some countries and schools than in others, since there are gross socio-economic differences in both cases. It is now almost the end of the second decade since the invention of microcomputers and their appearance in mathematics educational settings. Most of the interest in technology for mathematics education has been concerned with microcomputers. But there has been a steady increase in interest in graphics calculators by students, teachers, curriculum developers and examination authorities, in growing recognition that accessibility of technology at the level of the individual student is the key factor in responding appropriately to technological change; the experience of the last decade suggests very strongly that mathematics teachers are well advised to pay more attention to graphics calculators than to microcomputers. There are clear signs that the commercial marketplace, especially in the United States, is acutely aware of this trend. It was recently reported that current US sales of graphics calculators are around six million units per year, and rising. There are now four major corporations developing products aimed directly at the high school market, with all four producing graphics calculators of high quality and beginning to understand the educational needs of students and their teachers. To get some evidence of this interest, I scanned a recent issue (April 1995) of The Mathematics Teacher, the NCTM journal focussed on high school mathematics. The evidence was very strong: of almost 20 full pages devoted to paid advertising, nine featured graphics calculators, while only two featured computer products, with two more featuring both computers and graphics calculators. The main purposes of this paper are to explain and justify this heightened level of interest in graphics calculators at the secondary school level, and to identify some of the resulting implications for mathematics education, both generally, and in the South-East Asian region