Visual learners think in pictures rather than words and learn best when they utilize representations based on graphs, tables, charts, maps, colors and diagrams. We propose a new pedagogy for teaching pointers in the C programming language using graph transformation systems to visually simulate pointer manipulation. In an Introduction to C course, the topic of pointers is often the most difficult one for students to understand; therefore, we experiment with graph-based representations of dynamic pointer structures to reinforce the learning. Groove, a graph transformation tool, is used to illustrate the behaviour of pointers through modelling and simulation. A study is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. This paper will also provide a comparison to other teaching methods in this area.

翻译：视觉型学习者倾向于以图像而非文字进行思考，当其运用基于图形、表格、图表、地图、色彩与示意图的表征方式时学习效果最佳。本文提出一种利用图变换系统可视化模拟指针操作的新型C语言指针教学法。在C语言入门课程中，指针主题往往是学生最难理解的内容；为此，我们尝试采用基于图形的动态指针结构表征方式来强化学习效果。通过运用图变换工具Groove进行建模与仿真，直观展示指针的行为特性。本文通过一项研究评估该教学方法的有效性，并将与此领域的其他教学方法进行比较分析。