Tracing Brilliance: Analysing Student Performance in Ray Tracing and Problem-Solving Capabilities and Approaches
| dc.contributor.author | Liu, Enyu | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Wünsche, Burkhard C. | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Luxton-Reilly, Andrew | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Lange-Nawka, Dominik | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Hooper, Steffan | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Thompson, Samuel E. R. | en_US |
| dc.contributor.editor | Kuffner dos Anjos, Rafael | en_US |
| dc.contributor.editor | Rodriguez Echavarria, Karina | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-05-09T09:03:46Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-05-09T09:03:46Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Learning computer graphics is considered challenging due to the diverse skills required, including programming, mathematics, physics, problem solving skills, and spatial reasoning skills. Ray tracing is an important rendering technique in computer graphics but many students find the topic difficult. In this paper, we investigate problems students encounter when solving ray tracing questions by analyzing student answers to assessment questions for a third-year introductory Computer Graphics module. Our findings suggest that the difficulty of ray tracing questions is related to the challenge of integrating conceptual knowledge, programming skills, and mathematical concepts into problem-solving strategies. Our results provide insights how this effects students' problem solving capability, i.e., many students seem unable to make appropriate mental models of problem statements and hence give answers which violate fundamental properties of the problem statement. We also observed that many students solved problems through trial and error instead of identifying the cause of an error. We suggest that students might benefit from visualisation tools which help students making appropriate mental models. | en_US |
| dc.description.sectionheaders | Education 1 | |
| dc.description.seriesinformation | Eurographics 2025 - Education Papers | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.2312/eged.20251007 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-3-03868-266-0 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1017-4656 | |
| dc.identifier.pages | 8 pages | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.2312/eged.20251007 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/eged20251007 | |
| dc.publisher | The Eurographics Association | en_US |
| dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International License | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | CCS Concepts: Applied computing → Education; Computing methodologies → Computer graphics | |
| dc.subject | Applied computing → Education | |
| dc.subject | Computing methodologies → Computer graphics | |
| dc.title | Tracing Brilliance: Analysing Student Performance in Ray Tracing and Problem-Solving Capabilities and Approaches | en_US |