Overview

Hands On Data Structures: Making Abstraction Tangible with Manipulatives is a workshop that helps educators make data structures concrete. Participants experience each structure as a physical system, then connect the model to diagrams and code.

What makes this different

  • Embodied learning: Participants use objects, movement, and spatial layouts to model abstract structures.
  • Multiple representations: Physical models map to visuals, pseudocode, and classroom tasks.
  • Transfer-ready: Activities are designed to be easy to scale for different grade bands.

Structures covered

  • Arrays and dynamic arrays
  • Stacks and queues
  • Linked lists
  • Trees and heaps
  • Graphs and traversal
  • Hashing and collision strategies