Teaching transformations in computer graphics with support from an interactive tool

Transformations are essential in many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education areas, but crucial in computer graphics. To scaffold representational competence and fluency when learning transformations, an Interactive Tool for Teaching Transformations (I3T) was developed as open source to narrow the gap between theory and practice and support the learning of transformations via a combination of lecture and hands-on approach. To evaluate the I3T’s usefulness in supporting teaching in computer graphics education, a quasi-experimental study was implemented to identify the areas of knowledge where the tool could promote a deeper understanding of transformations. The research question was: “Does the I3T tool provide an educational advantage in learning geometric transformations compared to the traditional (handwritten exercises) approach?” Using convenience sampling in the context of two working classrooms, students were assigned to two conditions: One classical, consisting of a lecture and practical hand-written exercises (n=39), and one combining a lecture with practical interaction with the tool (n=41), and their quantitative outcomes were compared, using the R environment. The results support our hypothesis. The group with the I3T significantly improved their knowledge, being 9% better in the knowledge test than the group without the tool, with a t-test p-value of 0.0012 after only a 60-minute intervention. The findings contribute to new knowledge on students’ understandings of geometric transformations. They also suggest that the scaffolding capabilities of the interactive tool contributed to students’ development of representational competence and representational fluency by linking matrices with their effect on three-dimensional models.