1 Divide and Conquer: Teaching Programming from a Visual Perspective

Although most undergraduate engineering students are familiar with a variety of different computer applications, many students encounter difficulties with introductory programming. A review of available literature suggests that programming concepts are more easily understood when visually-based explicit examples are introduced as examples of programming language, and this research tests that conclusion. A sophomore-level civil engineering class at the University of Memphis combines traditional programming concepts with a series of non-traditional pedagogical approaches with the goal of making programming more palatable for the students. In an effort to make the introduction of programming constructs such as Do-While, If-Then-Else-EndIf, and other syntax independent concepts less abstract to the students, the Legos Mindstorms system was used as an introductory programming system. The Legos Mindstorms system is a robotics system based on the Legos building concept along with a simple icon based programming interface that allows the development of autonomous robotic vehicles and systems. The Legos system allowed for immediate feedback for programs through the performance of the robots. Logical development of the programs is emphasized over syntax through the simplified syntax used in the icon-based programming language. Problems presented rewar