Storytelling alice motivates middle school girls to learn computer programming

We describe Storytelling Alice, a programming environment that introduces middle school girls to computer programming as a means to the end of creating 3D animated stories. Storytelling Alice supports story creation by providing 1) a set of high-level animations, that support the use of social characters who can interact with one another, 2) a collection of 3D characters and scenery designed to spark story ideas, and 3) a tutorial that introduces users to writing Alice programs using storybased examples. In a study comparing girls' experiences learning to program using Storytelling Alice and a version of Alice without storytelling support (Generic Alice), we found that users of Storytelling Alice and Generic Alice were equally successful at learning basic programming constructs. Participants found Storytelling Alice and Generic Alice equally easy to use and entertaining. Users of Storytelling Alice were more motivated to program; they spent 42% more time programming, were more th...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Caitlin Kelleher, Randy F. Pausch, Sara B. Kiesler
• Keywords: Alice Programs, Alice Supports Story, CHI 2007, Generic Alice, Human Computer Interaction