Explore - Create - Present: A Project Series for CS0
David B. Adams · 2010
This paper describes a four project sequence used in our Introduction to Computer Science course focused on allowing the students extensive creative freedoms within a highly motivational administrative framework. Each project reinforces foundational CS concepts like branching, looping, sequence, variables and the notions of objects in a very concrete and visual way with instant feedback to the students. The key element though is that the four projects all use completely different interfaces and environments allowing students to see the same basic ideas from several perspectives in order to reinforce a more correct mental model of the concepts. This method allows for a more natural step toward abstraction of the fundamental ideas and should help students be more successful in later CS courses.