Approaches to teaching introductory computer graphics

Abstract

introductory computer graphics course. They represent a wide spectrum of the discipline, offering courses emphasizing systems, engineering, mathematics, science, art design and animation. Sample course syllabi, textbook recommendations, software packages and suggested projects will be available. This past summer at an Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Workshop in Computer Graphics sponsored by the NSF and the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee, it became apparent that there were widely different viewpoints on the content and methodology for teaching the introductory computer graphics course. The panelists will discuss various approaches to teaching an introductory computer graphics course. They represent a wide spectrum of the discipline, offering courses emphasizing in systems, engineering, mathematics, science, art design and animation. Included in the discussion will be conventional approaches, beginning with two-dimensional concepts and introducing three-dimensional concepts at the end of the course; an approach that focus on generic graphics pipeline elements and system specification/implementation; a new approach that emphasizes image synthesis based on Physics; and approaches that emphasize art design and animation. Software packages, both commercial and public domain, used to teach computer graphics will be described. The courses described are taught at large public universities as well as small private colleges. The equipment used varies from 8088 personal computers to Sun workstations. Sample course syllabi, textbook recommendations, and suggested projects will be available.