An Integrated and “Engaging” Package for Tree Animations

This paper describes a prototypical system for tree and tree algorithm animations. The system allows the user to create his or her own tree from a selection of supported tree types by inserting and removing nodes. At any point in time, the user can ask for a visualization of the tree's generation to see the effects of the chosen actions. The user can also request embedded documentation on different levels of detail. The system may prompt the user to answer questions about the displayed contents. The online help further assists the user in learning about the tree types and operations. The package presented in this paper corresponds to the engagement levels viewing, responding, changing and also supports the presenting engagement level as defined in the engagement taxonomy [Naps, T.L., G. Rößling, V. Almstrum, W. Dann, R. Fleischer, C. Hundhausen, A. Korhonen, L. Malmi, M. McNally, S. Rodger and J.A. Velázquez-Iturbide, Exploring the Role of Visualization and Engagement in Computer Science Education, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin 35 (2003), pp. 131–152].