Using textbook illustrations to extract design principles for algorithm visualizations

Abstract

The literature on algorithm visualizations addresses a number of important issues for educational use, such as instructional uses, graphical formats, effort of adoption, etc. However, there is a lack of clear principles to guide the construction of educationally effective visualizations. We have addressed an analysis of visualizations concerning three basic algorithm design techniques (divide and conquer, backtracking and dynamic programming). The material was the illustrations found in a number of prestigious algorithm textbooks, which prove to be high-quality sources. One contribution of this chapter is the final list of fields used to characterize visualizations, given that they embody the key features of illustrations. A second contribution is an outline of the findings of our analysis, which are a step toward stating design principles for algorithm visualizations.