Students seen flocking in programming assignments

Abstract

Programming assignments are typically constructed with great precision, in order to ensure that students traverse the important content areas in the unit. This paper makes a case for an "ill-defined", large programming task by presenting experiences with an assignment based on flocking behavior. Providing students meet the criteria that their artificial life forms clearly exhibit flocking behavior, they become responsible for defining the exact nature of the task. The success of this approach is partly measured by the ability of novice programmers who fully engage with the course material to produce spectacular results. The paper includes a discussion of the philosophical requirements for adopting such an approach within a programming unit.