Date of Award

6-7-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2022.

Department

Computer Science and Engineering

First Advisor

Sharon Hsiao

Abstract

In our technologically advanced society, computational thinking is a critical skill for students to develop. Our project, ORIENT, is a mobile application that uses augmented reality to teach object-oriented programming(OOP), a fundamental concept in computer science. ORIENT is designed for novice programmers from the middle school level up, and it consists of a three-part tutorial series that teaches class creation, inheritance, and polymorphism-three of the most important tenets of object-oriented programming. ORIENT, which was built in Unity and made specifically for the iPad, includes a series of interactive tutorials with immediate feedback; it encourages students to explore OOP in a guided environment that prioritizes learning over gamification. Students can learn at their own pace and easily navigate between and within tutorials. Through user testing with novice programmers in middle school, high school, and college, we found ORIENT to be highly effective in communicating OOP concepts in an engaging and understandable manner. We hope that ORIENT can provide insight on how immersive technology can be used to enhance education, particularly in the field of computer science.

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