Teaching Graphics To Students Struggling in Math: An Experience

Abstract

Undergraduate students with a negative attitude towards Math present a unique challenge when teaching computer graphics. Most meaningful concepts in computer graphics involve directly working with Math in the classroom, and implementing tasks in programs requires a reasonable grounding in Math concepts and how to apply them. This paper presents a semester-long experience in using three strategies to address difficulties faced by computer science students who are interested in learning computer graphics, but feel less confident or uninterested in Math. Similar to how Math is taught in schools, we focus on giving students more and more practice in implementing progressively complex visual tasks. Students accomplish some tasks individually to develop a basic understanding before completing other tasks in groups. Students achieve more in a semester than before, and our preliminary observations show a higher rate of completion by students, moderate gains in performance in individual assignments and significant gains in overall class performance.