Pointers, a way for indirect data addressing, can be a very challenging topic for programming students, especially for those who are in the beginning stage of their studies. Very often, students maintain misconceptions about pointer/reference variables regarding what information they hold and how that information is used. As a result, they often struggle to produce working code for various programming projects that require the use of pointers. It is the authors' belief that ad hoc drawings, as often used in our classrooms, are not adequate. Professors should adopt a standardized set of drawing symbols in the teaching of this topic and use more drawings in their instruction to provide a visual representation of the relationship between pointer/reference variables and the referenced data. These visual representations will help negate common misconceptions students develop regarding the data access through pointers. We propose a standard set of drawing symbols to be used in textbooks, videos, and classroom instruction. Through case studies, we will illustrate the use of these drawing symbols.
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