Description

This project involves the creation and development of the PANDA - the "PolyU Animals' Networked Development Arena". It is a graphical development kit designed to support various programming assignments and projects.  

Intended educational value

It is a well-acknowledged fact that some of the most difficult courses to teach in any curriculum are the introductory courses, especially in science and engineering programmes. Many of these subjects are seen as "dry" and difficult to understand, and today's students, who are easily distracted by many entertainment options, quickly become bored and lose interest. This issue is particularly important for courses such as "Principles of Programming" and "Data Structures and Algorithms", where students have required to learn a new programming language, or to grasp abstract concepts in algorithms. Mastering a new discipline requires constant and consistent practice and revision, and students who are bored are not likely to do so. To maintain students' interest and, at the same time, develop their technical skills requires innovation and creativity, and this project is designed to inject a dose of "entertainment and fun" into these fairly challenging courses.
 

Example of application

Tthe Project Team has developed a variety of possible animals for students to choose from. Using their newly learned programming skills, students are asked to complete tasks such as altering an animal's appearance, or making it move around and interact with its environment. 

Students can run the kit on their own computers or on the machines in the department's laboratories, and the kit and the associated assignments have been used in a required subject for all first-year students in the Department of Computing.
 

Evaluation/Comments

Student comments:
The overall feedback fromstudents on the platform was favourable - they enjoyed the assignments and projects and the way in which the platform was presented to them.

Evaluation:
The kit helped students to learn and retain class material more effectively than the conventional approach of using assignments that are usually artificial examples and "toy" problems. The project enhanced student motivation and promoted an interest in computer science and information technology.

(Note: For access to this platform, please contact Dr. Grace Ngai (csgngai@polyu.edu.hk)