Alyssa's Week 1 Assignment

Project 1: Computational Thinking

By: Alyssa Belisle

Draw a horizontal line that is 6 inches long and 1.5 inches up from the bottom of the rectangle.

In the center between the line and the bottom of the rectangle, draw a 6 inch horizontal dashed line with eight equal and evenly spaced dashes.

Draw a rectangle that is 1.5 inches high and 2 inches wide and center it on the horizontal line.

Atop this rectangle, draw an equilateral triangle with side lengths of 2 inches using the top of the rectangle as one side.

In the bottom center of the second rectangle, draw another rectangle that is 0.75 inches high and 0.5 inches wide.

Draw two squares with side lengths of 0.5 inches in the upper corners of the second rectangle.

Draw two lines in each square to separate each into four smaller, but equal squares.

Draw a circle, 0.125 inches in diameter, 0.375 inches up and just inside from the left side of the last rectangle.

Touch a pencil tip to the paper and drag it to create a four-sided figure with four 90 degree angles. Let the horizontal pair of parallel sides be 6 inches long and let the vertical pair be 5 inches long.
Touch a pencil tip to the paper and push firmly to make one dot, 1.5 inches up from the bottom of the four-sided figure, but let the dot lay on one of the 5 inch vertical lines. Repeat on the other 5 inch vertical line. Connect the two dots with a straightedge to form a 6 inch horizontal line.

In the direct center between this line and the bottom of the four-sided figure, touch a pencil tip to the paper and push firmly to make a dot. Repeat this step until eight, equally spaced, pairs of dots have been made. Connect the pairs of dots with a straightedge to form 8 horizontal lines.

Touch a pencil tip to the paper and drag it to create a four-sided figure with four 90 degree angles. Let the horizontal pair of parallel sides be 2 inches long and let the vertical pair be 1.5 inches long, and center this figure on the 6 inch horizontal line.

Atop this four-sided figure, touch a pencil tip to the paper and drag it to create a three-sided figure with three 60 degree angles. Let each side be 2 inches and let the top of the second four-sided figure be a side. This is an equilateral triangle.

In the bottom center of the second four-sided figure, touch a pencil tip to the paper and drag it to create a four-sided figure with four 90 degree angles. Let the horizontal pair of parallel sides be 0.5 inches long and let the vertical pair be 0.75 inches long.

In the upper left hand corner of the second four-sided figure, touch a pencil tip to the paper and drag it to create a four-sided figure with four 90 degree angles. Let both pairs of parallel sides measure 0.5 inches. Repeat this step in the upper right hand corner of the second four-sided figure.

Touch a pencil tip to the paper and push firmly to make one dot in the center of each side of the two new four-sided figures. With a straightedge, connect the dots that are on opposite sides of each individual figure to form four smaller, but equal four-sided figures within each of the two larger four-sided figures.

Touch a pencil tip to the paper and push firmly to make one dot 0.375 inches up from the bottom of the 0.75 inch by 0.5 inch four-sided figure. Let this dot lay 0.0625 inches in from the left side of the figure. Touch a pencil tip to the paper and push firmly to make many dots 0.0625 inches away from the previously created dot allowing the new dots to rotate 360 degrees around this dot. This is a circle.

The strengths of the protocol were that it defined the geometric descriptions such as rectangle, triangle, square, and circle that were used in the commands thus leaving little ambiguity about what exactly the director wanted drawn. The protocol also helped to define lines which again helped with the ambiguity problem. However, the weaknesses of the protocol were that everything was so defined that it was almost more difficult to follow than the commands due to the shared knowledge that already existed between the artist and director in regards to the specific geometric shapes and lines. Also, because the protocol is so definitive it becomes more complicated to read than just the commands.

Yes, I did parameterize some of my commands. In fact, most of my commands include parameters. The parameters were lengths in the form of inches in my commands; however, in my protocol I not only used lengths, but I also included angle measures to help define the geometric shapes I used to draw my picture. The parameters were used to better describe and to help make the artist's picture more accurate to the original.

Of the two protocols that were used, the one with more definition and parameters was better. This is because without clear definition and with little use of parameters the drawings did not match the original quite as well. They resembled the original picture, however, the protocol that had clearly defined steps and that used many parameters was easier to use in order to replicate the original picture.

The outcomes of the first director/artist task and the task with the protocol were much different. In the first task the picture was drawn well, but little details that were not defined in the commands were missing in the drawing. However, once the protocol was implemented, those details were defined and the drawing more accurately resembled the original.

There is definitely more information in the protocol as opposed to just the list of commands. The protocol defines all the general terms that were used in the commands. The commands can only be used to get an accurate picture if the artist and director share the same common knowledge, where as the protocol could be given to almost anyone and the picture could be replicated with little or no common knowledge between the two.

No, there were no commands like "draw a face" because I parameterized when writing my commands.