The workshop was structured but participation times were flexible. Teachers documented their techniques and course materials and designed and created new ones. Projects ranged from 3D animated physics illustrations to lesson plans for art and optical illusions and exercises on 2D to 3D design. The experience we had gained in working in the K-12 area, the lecture notes we had polished, our background in innovative undergraduate teaching methods, and our research in computer graphics and its use in communication and teaching were all finally combined. The new form of the Workshop is now a year-round effort in which teachers come back one Saturday each month to work on projects.
Communication takes place through email and a moderated Web discussion group.
The creation of materials and the use of the Web make evaluation and assessment easier. Quantitative results can be calculated from Web logs and teachers can give detailed reports about their use of the resources in the classroom. The program is easier to conduct and far easier to sustain after Center funding ends. As a model for outreach for our STC, the materials development work fits naturally with the subject matter that is the focus of our Center's undergraduate and graduate education and at times is even related to ongoing research in interaction and graphics-based communication. We plan to continue this model and coordinate similar efforts by the other Center sites to produce teaching materials, from lesson plans to interactive illustrations in Java and VRML, that will help make it easier to teach computer graphics at a range of levels and in a range of disciplines.