Alice in Action: Computing Through Animation

Enliven your CS1 course with Alice in Action! This six-chapter supplementary text uses Alice, a three-dimensional virtual reality authoring system, to make programming easy and fun for the beginning student. Alice was developed to help teach introductory programming techniques in a less syntax-intensive environment, and addresses some of the barriers that currently prevent many students from successfully learning to program. By introducing core programming topics such as objects, methods, and variables within the context of the Alice environment, students will be motivated to continue their studies in the field of computer science.

This six-chapter supplementary text uses Alice, a three-dimensional virtual reality authoring system, to make programming easy and fun for the beginning student.

Joel Adams is Professor of Computer Science at Calvin College, and has been teaching undergraduate computer science since 1984. He spends each July directing the Imaginary Worlds Camp, teaching middle school students how to program using Alice. He spent the Fall 2005 semester at Carnegie Mellon as a member of the Alice team.