In at the Deep End: An Activity-Led Introduction to Creative Computing with Interactive Computer Graphics

Misconceptions about the nature of the computing discipline(s) pose a serious problem to faculties that offer computing degrees, as students enrolling on their programmes come to realise that their expectations are not met by reality. This frequently results in the students’ early disengagement from the subject of their degrees which in turn can lead to excessive ‘wastage’, i.e. reduced retention. In this paper we report on our academic group’s attempts within creative computing degrees at a UK university to counter these problems through the introduction of a six week long project that newly enrolled students embark on at the very beginning of their studies. This group project provides a breadth-first, activity-led introduction to their chosen academic discipline, aiming to increase student engagement while providing a stimulating learning experience with the overall goal to increase retention. Having run in two iterations, we believe that this approach has been successful, with students showing increased interest in their chosen discipline and noticable improvements in retention following the first year of the students’ studies.