GCG Feature: 'Teaching Graphics With Games, Java 3D'

Author: by Beth A.

In this latest feature from Gamasutra sister site Game Career Guide, Brazilian university academics discuss their experiences with Computer Graphics courses taught to computer science and engineering students. They describe one of their courses in the following excerpt: Our course’s main goal is to give computer science and computer engineering students a basic knowledge of computer graphics algorithms. Students who attend this course usually already have a good understanding of computer programming, object orientation and software engineering, but very little or no formal knowledge of computer graphics and even less about game programming and game design. Our computer graphics course has been designed to require about 60 hours in classes plus 40 hours of extra-class work. The classes include both lectures to present the basic theory and laboratory activities, each consuming about half of the available time. Students have an initial, operational contact with most concepts in the laboratory first, and only later review and discuss these concepts in more depth during theory classes. In our experience, this approach, which at first may seem strange, aids in the comprehension and retention of theory concepts, as the students already have a practical experience with the subject to fall back on during the exposition of the theory. You can now read the full Game Career Guide feature to learn more (no registration required, please feel free to link to this column from external websites).