Statement of Need
A common problem in introductory courses offered at college and university campuses is how to engage student interest without exceeding the limits of what can or should be expected from students learning the rudimentary concepts of a given field. This is true in CECS 174: Programming and Problem Solving I, an introductory course offered by the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department at
To further exacerbate this problem, it is extremely difficult for instructors to develop interesting assignments that only use concepts within the scope of introductory programming and problem solving. Since educators are bound by this constraint, few assignments culminate in anything more than a display of alphanumeric values on a computer monitor. Because problem sets are typically artificial, students do not always recognize that these basic concepts have applications to larger problems.
Obviously new approaches to accessing programming assignments are necessary. Hopefully, platforms that can sense and move (as opposed to textual I/O used with typical programming assignments) will provide a more active learning environment and promote student interest.
Project Goals, Objectives, and Predicted Outcomes
CECS 174 is a Freshman level introductory course offered to both CS majors and non-majors. The course is divided into two modules, a 50 minutes lecture followed by a 75 minute lab. The labs are intended to provide students with the opportunity to apply the principles covered in lecture. The goal of revamping the 174 course is to create a classroom environment that will be conducive to demonstrating how simple concepts can be used to tackle large-scale problems. In order to obtain this goal the three objectives are:
1) Develop a new set of introductory programming assignments that will challenge the students to use problem-solving skills to solve real-world problems using a scientific design. These assignments must be applicable to both traditional and robotic-platform enhanced learning environments.
2) Develop tools that will allow other instructors to incorporate the platforms into their classrooms without
the need to modify their students’ work.
3) Research the benefits and potential pitfalls of incorporating robotics into an already challenging classroom experience.
This course requires a small, mobile robot lab to provide students with a novel, team-building environment in which to learn. The robots will provide an additional model to view the importance and applicability of introductory concepts. Students will need to learn that answers that are not well thought out might execute correctly on a computer, but fail in a real world environment. The end result will hopefully be improved problem-solving skills and increased student retention in the later courses.
Additionally, it is hoped that other instructors will also benefit and contribute to the outcome of this work. Once educators are instructed on how to use the tools to enhance their own classroom experience, they can use my concept outline as a platform for their own courses. The results of the performance comparison can be used for the comparison of pedagogical techniques among instructors of the same course.
Description of Activities
Currently two sections of CECS 174 (Programming and Problem Solving I) are being taught by the same instructor. In one section the set of programming assignments requires common keyboard input/monitor output. In the other section the same concepts are covered, but in addition to the visual display, the code embedded onto a robotic platform using Interactive C [1]. For instance, while one section may implement a loop that counts to 10, the other will implement a loop that spins the robot. In another assignment the first group may halt their program when a certain number is entered, and the second group will halt the robot when a bumper is hit. To date the instructor has :
1) Identified programming concepts within CECS 174 that can be translated into engaging programming assignments for applied and non-applied courses.
2) Created robot platforms. The robot chassis were designed using information from The Art of Lego [1]. The processor used on each is a Handy Board, which is based on the 52-pin Motorola MC68HC11 processor, and includes 32K of battery-backed static RAM, four outputs for DC mo tors, a connector system that allows active sensors to be individually plugged into the board, an LCD screen, and an integrated, rechargeable battery pack [2]. In addition, each robot is equipped with two motors and multiple, removable sensors. 3) Outlined differences between the C++ programming language used by all 174 courses, and the Interactive C language [3] used to program the robots.
It is important to note that none of the planned activities involves changing 174 into a robotics course; the robots are used to create a more immersive environment. The students learn about the importance of functionality, passing proper inputs, and receiving expected output. An initial period was needed to introduce students to the minimal concepts of programming needed to write program: variables, expressions, operators, program syntax, and program structure. The robot labs are intended to begin concurrently with the introduction of functions. Simple functions such as motor(x,y), ao(), sleep(), digital(x), and beep() can produce interesting programs such as:
§ traveling in a square.
§ detecting whether an object is light or dark
§ line following;
§ responding to stimuli.
Some additional concepts that were not the intended focus of the lab, but still addressed were infinite loops,
constants, and the scientific approach to testing.
Budget
An itemized budget for purchasing the processors, sensors, and building materials for eleven robots is provided in the Table 1. The original plan was to work in ten groups of three and have enough additional equipment for replacement pieces and one robot for the instructor. In the end, the dynamics of four students to a group was more effective. It also allowed for the numerous “breakages” when a robot would fall apart. For my purposes, I had an overabundance of Legos™ and motors. The CMU camera was purchased for use in more advanced courses.
