Do you have a question you would like answered? Contact us by email at cs112@cwu.edu and we will try to answer it right away.
The only computer labs on campus with the software used with Alice 3D programming environment and the Scribbler Robots are four labs located the second floor of Hebeler: Hebeler 218, Hebeler 209, Hebeler 203, and Hebeler 204.
Monday through Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Holiday weekends: labs are normally closed Saturday and Sunday and re-open on Monday from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
During the day, labs are sometimes reserved for class use. On the bulletin board next to each lab's entrance door is a schedule of these reserved class times.
Occasionally, at the discretion of the course instructor, students not enrolled in the class can work quietly at the unused computers in the back of the lab.
There should be a computer science student (TA) on duty during lab hours to help with Lab problems such as no printer paper, network problems, etc.
The TA is normally seated at a computer in Hebeler 203 with a sign on the computer indicating "TA on Duty". If you cannot locate the TA, check the white board in Hebeler 203 for a notice of their alternate location. If you do not see a notice, check Hebeler 209, Hebeler 204, or Hebeler 218 for the TA on Duty.
Mr. Fred Stanley is the Computer Science Department's System Analyst and Administrator. His office is Hebeler 214B. If the student TA is not able to provide assistance, Mr. Stanley should be able to solve your lab problems.
Your course instructors are probably the best source for help and are eager to help you. No appointment is needed to see us during our office hours. If these hours are not compatible with your schedule, contact one of the course instructors to make an appointment at a time that does work for you.
For quick questions (such as making appointments), you can easily catch us after class, or before class if there is time. Email is also possible, although it is sometimes difficult to diagnose programming problems with just email.
When showing up for help with a particular assignment, bring in as much of the assignment as you have completed along with your notes on the current problem you need help with.
Unfortunately, since winter quarter 2008 is the first time teaching both the Alice 3D programming environment and the Scribbler robot at CWU, there are no student tutors available who have gone through the course content and are available as tutors.
Pair programming is a professional practice in which two programmers work side-by-side at one computer, continuously collaborating on the same design, algorithm, code, or test.
Pair programming has been demonstrated to improve productivity and the quality of software products. Pair programmers are more confident in their solutions as opposed to working alone. Likewise, 96% of pair programmers agreed that they enjoy their jobs more when pair programming.
During labs and on programming assignments (optional), we will use extreme pair programming where we switch roles about every five minutes. The person at the keyboard is called the driver; and the other person is the navigator. While the navigator may have a tendency to sit back and go along for the ride, actually the navigator has the more challenging job: checking for errors and thinking what to do next. The driver is most concerned with tactics, the navigator with strategy.
The Learning to Program with Alice textbook comes with a CD containing the Alice v2.0 software. Insert the CD in your computer, click on Run Setup.exe and follow the instructions.
The Alice v2.0 Software may also be downloaded from www.alice.org. The Alice software is also available for Mac OS X and Linux. Be aware that the Alice download does not include the textbook tab and the six textbook example worlds referenced in the textbook.
Problems or questions? the Alice site maintains a Frequently Asked Questions and troubleshooting page.
As far as we know, Alice v2.0 is only installed on the computers in the labs on the second floor of Hebeler.
However, the Alice v2.0 program is small enough that you could copy it to a 512 MB USB flash drive and use it at other labs on campus.
The software used in the Hebeler labs for programming the Scribbler robots is referred to as the Scribbler Control Panel (SCP). It was developed by a Princeton University undergraduate student for use in teaching a beginning in computer programming,
I can be installed on your home computer (Windows only) by downloading and running the Setup SCP installer program.
The Scribbler robot is advertised as being for ages 8 and up. Eight-year olds can program the Scribbler robot with an easy-to-use drag and drop GUI environment
The Scribbler robot is also programmable by writing code with the BASIC Stamp Editor IDE. Note: the BASIC Stamp Editor is installed with the Scribbler Control Panel installation and can be accessed by running the program Stampw.exe in the SCP folder.
Both of these programming environments as well as additional downloads are available on the Scribbler Robot Downloads and Resources page.