Authors:
Thomas Suselo
;
Burkhard C. Wünsche
and
Andrew Luxton-Reilly
Affiliation:
School of Computer Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Keyword(s):
Computing Education, 3D Transformations, Computer Graphics, Spatial Skills.
Abstract:
Three-dimensional (3D) transformations are fundamental in computer graphics and hence an important component of introductory courses in this field. So far there has been no research investigating the learning challenges and whether they are predominantly related to the underlying mathematics, problem solving skills, programming issues, or a lack of visuospatial abilities. In this paper we present a user study investigating which 3D transformation concepts students struggle with and why. Our results suggest that most students understand primitive transformations, but often make errors with sequences of transformations, e.g., due to not understanding how transformations affect each other or what the correct order of operations is in English language, OpenGL code, or as a matrix product. Other frequent errors are misunderstanding the rotation direction (i.e., clockwise vs. anti-clockwise) and misinterpreting scaling factors. In addition, many students seem to lack spatial reasoning skil
ls to interpret images of 3D transformations and to make mental models of their effect. Our results illustrate common misconceptions and problems, and we discuss strategies for educators to improve the teaching of 3D transformations in computer graphics.
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