An introduction to programming curriculum including elements of mathematics, art, and creative writing (abstract only)

During the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters, I tested a new style of teaching introductory programming in which graphics are covered early in the curriculum. Students gained familarity with the XY-Coordinate system used by most graphics packages. They used this system to create scalable (size and location) and color paraterizable graphics for use in other graphics. The mathematical properties of sine and cosine were used to generate points evenly distributed around a circle. Objects were collected into a function library to encourage collaboration. All this was finally used to create an interactive illustrated story. This new style of programming pedagogy can be applied to teaching middle- or high-school level mathematic.