Pair Teaching in Computer Graphics

Computer Graphics is a course commonly found on Computer Science and Computer Engineering undergraduate programs. There are some convenient points on teaching computer graphics in these programs: Computer-Generated Imagery in movies and videogames are relevant examples of applied engineering and science that students experience in their lives, and this can be a potential motivation factor for students to get engaged on learning; furthermore, Computer Graphics relies on several fundamental and complex mathematical concepts, that can also be applied in other science areas, being an opportune moment to cover and practice mathematical learning goals, all connected with a base on computer science. Learning Computer Graphics depends on developing and integrating skills on computer science and mathematics, therefore, a learning plan must cover both topics. However, it must be considered that students need to relate these topics, and this is the trick, since ideally professors need the knowledge and pedagogy in both areas. The strategy presented in this document was based on two professors, one mathematician and one computer engineering, planning, and teaching an elective undergraduate course on Computer Graphics. The course was based on active learning strategies by design, heavily focused on Project Based Learning through three projects starting from scratch, each week learning and implementing new features on the projects. Students must program in regular programming languages like Python, C++ and Javascript, and build up their competence in mathematics from basic math concepts. As a result, students were able to develop a scanline renderer, and a ray-tracing renderer without any graphical Application Programming Interface and finally a 3D web application based on ThreeJS. Although students had a perception of a demanding course, they were engaged on proposed activities during all semester, and were able to implement all important features on projects, often above expectation, showing evidence that learning objectives were achieved