Alice is a computer programming software environment focused on teaching first-time programmers the basics of computer science. A decade or so ago, web design classes began popping up in high schools across the nation as a way to engage students in a viable future profession in a similar way that shop classes throughout the country have prepared students for carpentry and other manual professions. More recently, computer science and programming classes have garnered buzz. As typical programming environments geared toward students have always focused on relevant business principled uses, and as programming students have reached younger and younger ages, a need has arose to teach programming in a way that feels relevant to students that do not yet understand the business demands of most computer science professionals.

This is where Alice comes in. Alice focuses on building three dimensional game-like environments (with Lewis Carroll’s protagonist at the head) purely through code. The software, which can be downloaded for as many users as desired for free, is open sourced and has been designed specifically for computer science students desirous of learning the basic principles, grammar, organization and design elements of modern coding. However, in the beginning, Alice avoids the frustration the students often encounter with coding through a drag-and-drop interface. If the student sets up malfunctioning code, the program will run up to the point where the code is faulty, all of which is designed to reduce frustration and make the learning process as simple as possible. Alice can be used in high schools, but is also used in universities as an initial introduction to computer science across America. From Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to Ivy League Cornell University in Ithaca, NY to Duke University and California State University, Alice has graduated beyond the plethora of high schools already taking advantage of its benefits. A peer-reviewed IT journal published findings that in introductory courses to computer science, students averaged a grade B with Alice as opposed to a grade C with traditional teaching methods. Furthermore, after using Alice, 88% of students continued on to take a second computer science course after learning on Alice, whereas only 47% of other students continued on to another course. Alice can be downloaded for free at Alice.org. A plethora of teaching materials can be found there, as well as at http://www.aliceprogramming.net/.

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