research-article

Algorithm Visualization: The State of the Field

Authors:

Clifford A. Shaffer,

Matthew L. Cooper,

Alexander Joel D. Alon,

Michael Stewart,

Stephen H. EdwardsAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), Volume 10, Issue 3

Article No.: 9, Pages 1 - 22

https://doi.org/10.1145/1821996.1821997

Published: 01 August 2010 Publication History

Abstract

We present findings regarding the state of the field of Algorithm Visualization (AV) based on our analysis of a collection of over 500 AVs. We examine how AVs are distributed among topics, who created them and when, their overall quality, and how they are disseminated. There does exist a cadre of good AVs and active developers. Unfortunately, we found that many AVs are of low quality, and coverage is skewed toward a few easier topics. This can make it hard for instructors to locate what they need. There are no effective repositories of AVs currently available, which puts many AVs at risk for being lost to the community over time. Thus, the field appears in need of improvement in disseminating materials, propagating known best practices, and informing developers about topic coverage. These concerns could be mitigated by building community and improving communication among AV users and developers.

References

[1]

AlgoViz Wiki. 2010. Data structures and algorithm visualization wiki. http://web-cat.cs.vt.edu/AlgovizWiki.

[2]

AlgoViz.org. 2010. Annotated bibliography of the AV research literature. http://algoviz.org/biblio.

[3]

Association for Computing Machinery. 2010. The ACM digital library. http://portal.acm.org.

[4]

Baecker, R. and Sherman, D. 1981. Sorting out sorting. Video.

[5]

Brabec, F. and Samet, H. 2003. Maryland spatial index demos. http://donar.umiacs.umd.edu/quadtree/.

[6]

Brown, M. 1992. An introduction to Zeus. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’92). 663--664.

Digital Library

[7]

Brown, M., Najork, M., and Raisamo, R. 1997. A java-based implementation of collaborative active textbooks. In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (VL’97). 372--379.

Digital Library

[8]

Brown, M. H. and Sedgewick, R. 1984. A system for algorithm animation. In Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH’84). 177--186.

Digital Library

[9]

Byrne, M. D., Catrambone, R., and Stasko, J. T. 1996. Do algorithm animations aid learning? Tech. rep. GIT-GVU-96-18, Georgia Institute of Technology.

[10]

CITIDEL 2007. Computing and information technology interactive digital educational library. http://www.citdel.org.

[11]

Connexions Scholarly Content Repository. 2010. http://cnx.org.

[12]

Crescenzi, P. 2010. Alvie 3.0. http://alvie.algoritmica.org/.

[13]

Crescenzi, P., Gambosi, G., and Grossi, R. 2006. Strutture di Dati e Algoritmi. Pearson Education Addison-Wesley.

[14]

Diehl, S. 2007. Software Visualization: Visualizing the Structure, Behavior, and Evolution of Software. Springer.

Digital Library

[15]

Dittrich, J.-P., van den Bercken, J., Schäfer, T., and Klein, M. 2000. Data structure navigator. http://dbs.mathematik.uni-marburg.de/research/projects/dsn/.

[16]

Galles, D. 2006. Data structure visualization. http://www.cs.usfca.edu/galles/visualization/.

[17]

Grissom, S., McNally, M., and Naps, T. 2003. Algorithm visualization in CS education: Comparing levels of student engagement. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Software Visualization (SoftVis’03). 87--94.

Digital Library

[18]

Gurka, J. and Citrin, W. 1996. Testing effectiveness of algorithm animation. In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (VL’96). 182--189.

Digital Library

[19]

Hansen, S., Narayanan, N., and Schrimpsher, D. 2000. Helping learners visualize and comprehend algorithms. Interact. Multimedia Electron. J. Comput.-Enhanc. Learn. 13, 3, 291--317.

[20]

Harrison, S. and Dourish, P. 1996. Replacing space: The roles of place and space in collaborative systems. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW’96). 67--76.

Digital Library

[21]

Hope College. 2001. Complete collection of algorithm visualizations. http://www.cs.hope.edu/~dershem/ccaa/ccaa.

[22]

Hundhausen, C. and Douglas, S. 2000. Using visualizations to learn algorithms: Should students construct their own, or view an expert’s? In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (VL’00). 21--28.

Digital Library

[23]

Hundhausen, C. D., Douglas, S. A., and Stasko, J. T. 2002. A meta-study of algorithm visualization effectiveness. J. Vis. Lang. Comput. 13, 3, 259--290.

[24]

Jarc, D. J., Feldman, M. B., and Heller, R. S. 2000. Assessing the benefits of interactive prediction using Web-based algorithm animation courseware. In Proceedings of the 31st SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’00). 377--381.

Digital Library

[25]

Jeric 2008. J. Educ. Resour. Comput. http://www.acm.org/pubs/jeric.

[26]

Korhonen, A., Malmi, L., and Silvasti, P. 2003. Trakla2: A framework for automatically assessed visual algorithm simulation exercises. In Proceedings of the Koli Calling 3rd Annual Baltic Conference on Computer Science Education (KOLI-CALLING’03).

[27]

Lawrence, A. W., Stasko, J., and Badre, A. 1994. Empirically evaluating the use of animations to teach algorithms. In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (VL’94). 48--54.

[28]

Naps, T., Cooper, S., Koldehofe, B., Leska, C., Rössling, G., Dann, W., Korhonen, A., Malmi, L., Rantakokko, J., Ross, R., Anderson, J., Fleischer, R., Kuittinen, M., and McNally, M. 2003. Evaluating the educational impact of visualization. SIGCSE Bull. 35, 4, 124--136.

Digital Library

[29]

Naps, T., Eagan, J., and Norton, L. 2000. JHAVÉ---an environment to actively engage students in Web-based algorithm visualizations. In Proceedings of the 31st Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’00). 109--113.

Digital Library

[30]

Naps, T., Rössling, G., Almstrum, V., Dann, W., Fleischer, R., Hundhausen, C., Korhonen, A., Malmi, L., McNally, M., Rodger, S., and Ángel Velázquez-Iturbide, J. 2002. Exploring the role of visualization and engagement in computer science education. In Proceedings of the Working Group Reports from ITiCSE on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE-WGR’02). 131--152.

Digital Library

[31]

Pierson, W. and Rodger, S. 1998. Web-based animation of data structures using jawaa. In Proceedings of the 29th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’98). 267--271.

Digital Library

[32]

Rössling, G. 2006. Animation repository. http://www.animal.ahrgr.de/animations.php.

[33]

Rössling, G., Naps, T., Hall, M., Karavirta, V., Kerren, A., Leska, C., Moreno, A., Oechsle, R., Rodger, S., Urquiza-Fuentes, J., and Ángel Velázquez-Iturbide, J. 2006. Merging interactive visualizations with hypertextbooks and course management. SIGCSE Bull. 38, 4, 166--181.

Digital Library

[34]

Rössling, G., Schüer, M., and Freisleben, B. 2000. The animal algorithm animation tool. In Proceedings of the 5th Annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE ITiCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE’00). 37--40.

Digital Library

[35]

Saraiya, P. 2002. Effective features of algorithm visualization. M.S. thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

[36]

Saraiya, P., Shaffer, C., McCrickard, D., and North, C. 2004a. Effective features of algorithm visualizations. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’04). 382--386.

Digital Library

[37]

Saraiya, P., Shaffer, C., McCrickard, D., and North, C. 2004b. Effective features of algorithm visualizations. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’04). 382--386.

Digital Library

[38]

Shaffer, C. A., Cooper, M. L., and Edwards, S. H. 2007. Algorithm visualization: A report on the state of the field. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’07). 150--154.

Digital Library

[39]

Shaffer, C. A., Heath, L., and Yang, J. 1996. Using the Swan data structure visualization system for computer science education. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’96). 140--144.

Digital Library

[40]

Sigcse 2010. External links. http://sigcse.org/resources/external-links.

[41]

Smete 2010. Digital library. http://www.smete.org.

[42]

Stasko, J. 1992. Animating algorithms with XTANGO. SIGACT News 23, 2, 67--71.

Digital Library

[43]

Stasko, J. 2001. POLKA animation system. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/softviz/parviz/polka.html.

[44]

Stasko, J., Domingue, J., Brown, M. H., and Price, B. A. 1998. Software Visualization: Programming as a Multimedia Experience. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Digital Library

[45]

Stasko, J., Kehoe, C., and Taylor, A. 2001. Rethinking the evaluation of algorithm animations as learning aids: An observational study. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 54, 2, 265--284.

Digital Library

[46]

Stasko, J. and Kraemer, E. 1992. A methodology for building application-specific visualization of parallel programs. Tech. rep. GIT-GVU-92-10. Georgia Institute of Technology.

[47]

Stern, L. 2001. Algorithms in action. http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/aia/.

[48]

Waldmann, T. and Hermann, J. 2010. MoinMoin Wiki Engine. http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/.

[49]

Wiggins, M. 1998. An overview of program visualization tools and systems. In Proceedings of the 36th Annual Southeast Regional Conference (ACM-SE’98). 194--200.

Digital Library

Cited By

Landman MKohn TMonga MLonati VBarendsen ESheard JPaterson J(2024)"Something that Happens Each Day" - Students' Explanations of What Algorithms AreProceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3649217.3653531(199-205)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649217.3653531
Tilanterä ASorva JSeppälä OKorhonen A(2024)Students Struggle with Concepts in Dijkstra's AlgorithmProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3632620.3671096(154-165)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632620.3671096
Zhu Y(2024)Visualization Techniques for the Design and Analysis of Dynamic Programming Algorithms2024 28th International Conference Information Visualisation (IV)10.1109/IV64223.2024.00014(1-6)Online publication date: 22-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/IV64223.2024.00014
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations

Algorithm visualization: a report on the state of the field
SIGCSE '07: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

We present our findings on the state of the field of algorithm visualization, based on extensive search and analysis of links to hundreds of visualizations. We seek to answer questions such as how content is distributed among topics, who created ...
Algorithm visualization in CS education: comparing levels of student engagement
SoftVis '03: Proceedings of the 2003 ACM symposium on Software visualization

Software technology for algorithm visualization (AV) has advanced faster than our understanding of how such technology impacts student learning. In this paper we present results of a multi-university study. We measured the effect of varying levels of ...
Getting algorithm visualizations into the classroom
SIGCSE '11: Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education

Algorithm visualizations (AVs) are widely viewed as having the potential for improving computer science education. However, the rate of AV use and overall impact on education does not match the positive interest in their use that instructors report. ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computing Education

ACM Transactions on Computing Education Volume 10, Issue 3

August 2010

79 pages

EISSN:1946-6226

DOI:10.1145/1821996

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2010 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 August 2010

Accepted: 01 April 2010

Revised: 01 April 2010

Received: 01 June 2009

Published in TOCE Volume 10, Issue 3

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article
Research
Refereed

Funding Sources

Division of Undergraduate Education

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

120
Total Citations
View Citations
1,769
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)140
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)17

Reflects downloads up to 15 Oct 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Landman MKohn TMonga MLonati VBarendsen ESheard JPaterson J(2024)"Something that Happens Each Day" - Students' Explanations of What Algorithms AreProceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3649217.3653531(199-205)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649217.3653531
Tilanterä ASorva JSeppälä OKorhonen A(2024)Students Struggle with Concepts in Dijkstra's AlgorithmProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3632620.3671096(154-165)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632620.3671096
Zhu Y(2024)Visualization Techniques for the Design and Analysis of Dynamic Programming Algorithms2024 28th International Conference Information Visualisation (IV)10.1109/IV64223.2024.00014(1-6)Online publication date: 22-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/IV64223.2024.00014
Bourke CFirestone J(2024)Codeless PDC Modules for Early Computing Curriculum2024 IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium Workshops (IPDPSW)10.1109/IPDPSW63119.2024.00082(357-364)Online publication date: 27-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/IPDPSW63119.2024.00082
Jacob SJayvan Andel SM MKamal Thajammul Suhail S(2024)A Web Based System for Visualizing Array Algorithms in the Modern Classroom2024 4th International Conference on Advance Computing and Innovative Technologies in Engineering (ICACITE)10.1109/ICACITE60783.2024.10617100(487-491)Online publication date: 14-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICACITE60783.2024.10617100
Zhou FFan YLv SJiang LChen ZYuan JHan FJiang HBai GZhao Y(2024)FCTree: Visualization of function calls in executionInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107545175(107545)Online publication date: Nov-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107545
Kátai ZOsztián PIclanzan D(2024)Enacting algorithms: Evolution of the algorythmics storytellingEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-024-12617-yOnline publication date: 19-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12617-y
Munasinghe BBell TRobins A(2023)Computational Thinking and Notional Machines: The Missing LinkACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/362782923:4(1-27)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3627829
Robbins HGutekunst SShmoys DWilliamson DDoyle MStephenson BDorn BSoh LBattestilli L(2023)GILP: An Interactive Tool for Visualizing the Simplex AlgorithmProceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3545945.3569815(108-114)Online publication date: 2-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569815
Bao YHosseini HDoyle MStephenson BDorn BSoh LBattestilli L(2023)Mind the GapProceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3545945.3569749(778-784)Online publication date: 2-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569749
Show More Cited By

View Options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Article

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Issue’s Table of Contents