Transcript ppt - Duke University

ALICE Symposium - June 2009
www.alice.org
Debra L. Smarkusky
Sharon A. Toman
Penn State University
Penn State University
Worthington Scranton
Worthington Scranton
Information Sciences and
Technology (IST) Department
Music Department
[email protected]
[email protected]
 1,400
students
 Average
class size: 23
 45-acre
campus
 62
full-time faculty
 46
part-time faculty
 Baccalaureate
and Associate Degrees
 First
two years of a Penn State bachelor’s
degree in over 160 programs
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Question
Strongly
Agree or
Agree
Undecided
Strongly
Disagree or
Disagree
Alice allowed me to be creative
85%
9%
6%
Alice was easy to use
91%
6%
3%
Alice animations were fun to create
79%
9%
12%
I learned a lot about animation using
Alice
76%
12%
12%
Alice was more exciting when we
included music
73%
15%
12%
I was able to correlate my animations
with music
76%
15%
9%
I wish I knew how to create my own
original sounds
76%
12%
12%
I wish I knew how to compose my own
music for the animations
85%
6%
9%
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 General

Education Guidelines
“aid students in developing intellectual
curiosity, strengthened ability to think, and a
deeper sense of aesthetic appreciation”
 Motivation



Interdisciplinary course in music and animation
Active Learning exercises to aid in the retention
of knowledge
Excite students about using technology while
being creative
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
Many are first-generation college students

No technology background

Mix of mathematical and problem solving abilities

Freshmen or sophomores with knowledge of music
and/or technology ranging from none to extensive

Majority had an interest in one or both disciplines

Decide on a potential career

Enforce what they already knew

Provide them with additional knowledge that they could
apply to another course or project
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 Interface,
 Camera
methods, control structures
controls and event-handling
 Background

music
Music that will play for entire animation
 Sound
effects

When using playSound method in a sequence or
other logical structure

When using playSound in a DoTogether tile

Using the duration parameter of playSound
method to adjust time of the sound effect
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
Easy-to-use, fun and creative canvas

Express their creative ability and produce animations
quickly

Abstractions, drag-and-drop interface, and hidden
syntax

Opportunity to use programming constructs without
having to learn the intricacies of a programming
language

See and manipulate objects directly avoiding frustration
and confusion with learning a new programming
language

Engaged in their creations and eager to add additional
components and complexities to their worlds
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 Sibelius
is a music notation program designed
to write and play music in a variety of styles
http://www.sibelius.com/home/index_flash.html
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 Sibelius
allows students to explore digital
music through the use of technology
 Sibelius
uses:

A basic point-and-click format for the insertion of
musical notes

Editing tools for the management of notes,
graphics, and texts
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 The
musical sound file created by Sibelius
can be easily converted to a WAV or MP3 file
by using any sound converter tool such as
Switch
http://www.nch.com.au/switch/
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 The
process of learning musical concepts is
very similar to that of learning animation
concepts
 Students
are introduced to the theoretical
and fundamental terms
 And
then required to apply what they have
learned
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
Basic concepts of music theory are introduced:

Pitch

Rhythm

Time signatures

Major/minor scales

Major/minor key signature

Intervals

Chords

Proper set-up of a musical score

Music terminology
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 Students
work to problem-solve musical
concepts through active-learning exercises
created in Sibelius
 Students
complete “Musical Math” problems to
learn the basic rhythmic values in music
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
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
Music Requirements
Required to re-create note-for-note, concept-for-concept a musical score
in Sibelius that is the same as shown on a piece of sheet music they have
been given
 Additional instruments into the final score





Guitar line
Bass line
Drum line
Animation Requirements
Select a theme with three scenes (beginning, middle and end)
 At least 5 different types of logical control structures
 Event-handlers for at least 5 different objects and/or key strokes
 Utilize the camera controls


Students must integrate their complete musical score into the Alice
World using the proper methods and coding procedures

A student’s grade for this project is based on their completed musical
composition, the technical components of the animation, and their
creativity in selecting a theme, adding additional objects,
animations, and sounds.
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16
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 Sibelius
allows students instant feedback on
the quality of the musical score they are
composing
 Students
realize that creating a musical score
in Sibelius is comparable to creating
animations in Alice
 Both
follow development process which
includes analysis, design, implementation,
and testing phases
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
“It is a different type of class that helps to teach you about the
different types of software. It also teaches you new skills.”

“It’s a new experience. Even if your major has nothing to do with
what you learn using Alice, it is fun and interesting.”

“I learned a ton and would describe it as a good time and a great
way to learn music and animation.”

“I have an increased interest in music theory after taking the class.”

“I believe that it can be a fun course and lets you be creative. Also,
Alice is not that hard to use. I also think that this class can help with
different majors offered on campus. Alice is also very different
from other Art courses. You are able to do more what you want and
it is an art course that lets you use computer programs and not
many art courses really do that.”

“Alice is very user friendly, easy to understand, and simple to fix an
error.”

“Alice is a great tool for teaching someone the basics of animation
and object oriented programming. I had a great time experimenting
in Alice and using it to strengthen the fundamentals of objects.”
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From Sibelius
to Alice
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 Positive
feedback from the students and the
admissions staff


Average female enrollment of 25% in our course
each semester
Summer STEM Academy (ages 13-15) to teach
Sibelius and Alice with 50% female enrollment
 Comparison
of 3-Dimensional musical
animations in Alice with 2-Dimension musical
animations in Flash
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