An empirical study of web-based algorithm animation courseware in an Ada data structure course

In this paper, we describe Web-based courseware, which we developed, that contains exercises that use algorithm animation and visualization. It is intended for students in an introductory data structure course in Ada. We also discuss the results of an empirical study that we conducted using this courseware. In the study, we measured whether the interactive feature included in the courseware influenced student performance and whether student learning styles were a factor. No significant differences were found. A redesigned, more tightly controlled experiment is planned to more definitively answer this question. 1.1 Keywords Ada data structure course, algorithm animation, empirical study, interactive multimedia, learning styles, Web-based courseware 2