The C programming language
Lua—an extensible extension language
Software—Practice & Experience
Compiler construction
A practical analytic model for daylight
Proceedings of the 26th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques
SIGGRAPH '85 Proceedings of the 12th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques
Making the connection: programming with animated small world
Proceedings of the 5th annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE ITiCSEconference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Alice: a 3-D tool for introductory programming concepts
CCSC '00 Proceedings of the fifth annual CCSC northeastern conference on The journal of computing in small colleges
Flow diagrams, turing machines and languages with only two formation rules
Communications of the ACM
The motivation of students of programming
Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Karel the Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming
Karel the Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming
Mini-languages: a way to learn programming principles
Education and Information Technologies
Seven Deadly Sins of Introductory Programming Language Design
SEEP '96 Proceedings of the 1996 International Conference on Software Engineering: Education and Practice (SE:EP '96)
Cg: a system for programming graphics hardware in a C-like language
ACM SIGGRAPH 2003 Papers
MUPPETS: multi-user programming pedagogy for enhancing traditional study
CITC4 '03 Proceedings of the 4th conference on Information technology curriculum
Evaluating the effectiveness of a new instructional approach
Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Fun and Games: Multi-Language Development
Queue - Game Development
The use of MUPPETS in an introductory java programming course
CITC5 '04 Proceedings of the 5th conference on Information technology education
Robocode: using games to teach artificial intelligence
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
A study of the difficulties of novice programmers
ITiCSE '05 Proceedings of the 10th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
ShaderX3: Advanced Rendering with DirectX and OpenGL (Shaderx Series)
ShaderX3: Advanced Rendering with DirectX and OpenGL (Shaderx Series)
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)
Mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas
Mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas
Women catch up: gender differences in learning programming concepts
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Artist-directable real-time rain rendering in city environments
ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Courses
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ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Courses
High Dynamic Range Imaging: Acquisition, Display, and Image-Based Lighting (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics)
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GDCSE '08 Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Game development in computer science education
Alice and robotics in introductory CS courses
The Fifth Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference: Intellect, Initiatives, Insight, and Innovations
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Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Interactive neuro-educational technologies (I-NET): development of a novel platform for neurogaming
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SGDA'11 Proceedings of the Second international conference on Serious Games Development and Applications
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ICWL'11 Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Advances in Web-Based Learning
In at the Deep End: An Activity-Led Introduction to First Year Creative Computing
Computer Graphics Forum
Game based early programming education: the more you play, the more you learn
Transactions on Edutainment IX
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The brewing crisis threatening computer science education is a well documented fact. To counter this and to increase enrolment and retention in computer science related degrees, it has been suggested to make programming "more fun" and to offer "multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary programs" [Carter 2006]. The Computer Visualisation and Animation undergraduate degree at the National Centre for Computer Animation (Bournemouth University) is such a programme. Computer programming forms an integral part of the curriculum of this technical arts degree, and as educators we constantly face the challenge of having to encourage our students to engage with the subject. We intend to address this with our C-Sheep system, a reimagination of the "Karel the Robot" teaching tool [Pattis 1981], using modern 3D computer game graphics that today's students are familiar with. This provides a game-like setting for writing computer programs, using a task-specific set of instructions which allow users to take control of virtual entities acting within a micro world, effectively providing a graphical representation of the algorithms used. Whereas two decades ago, students would be intrigued by a 2D top-down representation of the micro world, the lack of the visual gimmickry found in modern computer games for representing the virtual world now makes it extremely difficult to maintain the interest of students from today's "Plug&Play generation". It is therefore especially important to aim for a 3D game-like representation which is "attractive and highly motivating to today's generation of media-conscious students" [Moskal et al. 2004]. Our system uses a modern, platform independent games engine, capable of presenting a visually rich virtual environment using a state of the art rendering engine of a type usually found in entertainment systems. Our aim is to entice students to spend more time programming, by providing them with an enjoyable experience. This paper provides a discussion of the 3D computer game technology employed in our system and presents examples of how this can be exploited to provide engaging exercises to create a rewarding learning experience for our students.