EG 2023 - Education Papers

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Methods
Project Elements: A Computational Entity-component-system in a Scene-graph Pythonic Framework, for a Neural, Geometric Computer Graphics Curriculum
George Papagiannakis, Manos Kamarianakis, Antonis Protopsaltis, Dimitris Angelis, and Paul Zikas
A Constructivism-based Approach to Treemap Literacy in the Classroom
Elif E. Firat, Colm Lang, Bhumika Srinivas, Ilena Peng, Robert S. Laramee, and Alark Joshi
Towards Immersive Visualization for Large Lectures: Opportunities, Challenges, and Possible Solutions
Voicu Popescu, Alejandra J. Magana, and Bedrich Benes
Projects
Game-based Transformations: A Playful Approach to Learning Transformations in Computer Graphics
Martin Eisemann
Draw-Cut-Glue: Comparison of Paper House Model Creation in VR and on Paper in a Museum Education Programme - Pilot Study
Ivo Malý, Iva Vachková, and David Sedlácek
Towards a Formal Education of Visual Effects Artists
Adam Redford and Eike Falk Anderson

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Project Elements: A Computational Entity-component-system in a Scene-graph Pythonic Framework, for a Neural, Geometric Computer Graphics Curriculum
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Papagiannakis, George; Kamarianakis, Manos; Protopsaltis, Antonis; Angelis, Dimitris; Zikas, Paul; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    We present the Elements project, a lightweight, open-source, computational science and computer graphics (CG) framework, tailored for educational needs, that offers, for the first time, the advantages of an Entity-Component-System (ECS) along with the rapid prototyping convenience of a Scenegraph-based pythonic framework. This novelty allows advances in the teaching of CG: from heterogeneous directed acyclic graphs and depth-first traversals, to animation, skinning, geometric algebra and shader-based components rendered via unique systems all the way to their representation as graph neural networks for 3D scientific visualization. Taking advantage of the unique ECS in a a Scenegraph underlying system, this project aims to bridge CG curricula and modern game engines (MGEs), that are based on the same approach but often present these notions in a black-box approach. It is designed to actively utilize software design patterns, under an extensible open-source approach. Although Elements provides a modern (i.e., shader-based as opposed to fixed-function OpenGL), simple to program approach with Jupyter notebooks and unit-tests, its CG pipeline is not black-box, exposing for teaching for the first time unique challenging scientific, visual and neural computing concepts.
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    A Constructivism-based Approach to Treemap Literacy in the Classroom
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Firat, Elif E.; Lang, Colm; Srinivas, Bhumika; Peng, Ilena; Laramee, Robert S.; Joshi, Alark; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    Treemaps are a popular representation to show hierarchical as well as part-to-whole relationships in data. While most students are aware of node-link representations / network diagrams based on their K-12 education, treemaps are often a novel representation to them. We present our experience of developing a software using principles from constructivism to help students understand treemaps using linked, side-by-side views of a node-link diagram and a treemap of the same data. Based on the qualitative survey conducted at the end of the intervention, students found the linked views to be beneficial for understanding hierarchical representation of data using treemaps.
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    Towards Immersive Visualization for Large Lectures: Opportunities, Challenges, and Possible Solutions
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Popescu, Voicu; Magana, Alejandra J.; Benes, Bedrich; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    In this position paper, we discuss deploying immersive visualization in large lectures (IVLL). We take the position that IVLL has great potential to benefit students and that, thanks to the current advances in computer hardware and software, IVLL implementation is now possible. We argue that IVLL is best done using mixed reality (MR) headsets, which, compared to virtual reality (VR) headsets, have the advantages of allowing students to see important elements of the real world and avoiding cybersickness. We argue that immersive visualization can be beneficial at any point on the student engagement continuum. We argue that immersive visualization allows reconfiguring large lectures dynamically, partitioning the class with great flexibility in groups of students of various sizes, or accommodating 3D visualizations of monumental size. We inventory the challenges that have to be overcome to implement IVLL, and we argue that they currently have acceptable solutions, opening the door to developing a first IVLL system.
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    Towards a Formal Education of Visual Effects Artists
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Redford, Adam; Anderson, Eike Falk; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    The rapid growth of the visual effects industry over the past three decades and increasing demand for high quality visual effects for film, television and similar media, in turn increasing demand for graduates in this field have highlighted the need for formal education in visual effects. In this paper, we explore the design of a visual effects undergraduate degree programme and discuss our aims and objectives in implementing this programme in terms of both curriculum and syllabus.
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    Game-based Transformations: A Playful Approach to Learning Transformations in Computer Graphics
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Eisemann, Martin; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    In this paper, we present a playful and game-based learning approach to teaching transformations in a second-year undergraduate computer graphics course. While the theoretical concepts were taught in class, the exercise consists of two web-based tools that help the students to get a playful grasp on the complex topic, which is the foundation for many of the later concepts typically taught in computer graphics, such as the rendering pipeline, animation, camera motion, shadow mapping and many more. The final students' projects and feedback indicate that the game-based introduction was well-received by the students.
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    Draw-Cut-Glue: Comparison of Paper House Model Creation in VR and on Paper in a Museum Education Programme - Pilot Study
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Malý, Ivo; Vachková, Iva; Sedlácek, David; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri
    In this paper, we describe the integration of Virtual Reality (VR) into a museum education programme. The aim of the programme is to present the cultural heritage of Langweil's model of Prague in the context of author's life in the 19th century. For the programme, we developed a VR application in which students experience the creation of Langweil's model of Prague, more specifically, they virtually draw and cut out a facade of a house and insert it into the rest of the model. As part of the educational programme, the students also experience a similar activity with a paper model, which leads them to compare the creation in VR and in reality with real tools. The context of the author's life is covered by two additional programme activities using a budget simulation and a discussion using historical photographs. In a pilot study we evaluated the programme with 31 students and we describe the observed results from both the students' and the organisation's perspectives.
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    EUROGRAPHICS 2023: Education Papers Frontmatter
    (The Eurographics Association, 2023) Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri; Magana, Alejandra; Zara, Jiri