Why Isn't My Professor Using Graphics in the Freshman Programming Course?

Abstract

A new approach to teaching computer programming to freshmen is discussed. The course is designed to heighten student interest through the use of computer graphics programming. The students are given a relatively small number of programming tools and must create increasingly elaborate images on the screen as their knowledge of basic computer programming develops and their own personal collection of library routines grows. The lab problems culminate in a demonstration of a periodic waveform constructed from its Fourier Series coefficients.