569 research outputs found
Enhancing Practice and Achievement in Introductory Programming With a Robot Olympics
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Teaching Software Engineering through Robotics
This paper presents a newly-developed robotics programming course and reports
the initial results of software engineering education in robotics context.
Robotics programming, as a multidisciplinary course, puts equal emphasis on
software engineering and robotics. It teaches students proper software
engineering -- in particular, modularity and documentation -- by having them
implement four core robotics algorithms for an educational robot. To evaluate
the effect of software engineering education in robotics context, we analyze
pre- and post-class survey data and the four assignments our students completed
for the course. The analysis suggests that the students acquired an
understanding of software engineering techniques and principles
Games, Robots, and Robot Games: Complementary Contexts for Introductory Computing Education
Using games to teach introductory computing courses provides another context with which to exploring the possible attraction, retention, and education of a new generation of computer science (CS) students. At Bryn Mawr College, we have been actively exploring these contexts and have identified four that have great promise for use in teaching introductory computing courses: visualization, multimedia, robotics, and, most recently, games. We are currently using and analysing robots and have some preliminary results. We believe that much of what we have learned in using robots in the classroom can be applied to the other contexts, especially gaming. In addition, many aspects of gaming can also be used in an introductory course using robots. This paper will explore robotics, gaming, their interactions, and provide suggestions on how best to proceed in making the most out of games in the classroom
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Error resilient video transcoding for robust inter-network communications using GPRS
A novel fully comprehensive mobile video communications
system is proposed in this paper. This system exploits
the useful rate management features of the video transcoders and
combines them with error resilience for transmissions of coded
video streams over general packet radio service (GPRS) mobileaccess
networks. The error-resilient video transcoding operation
takes place at a centralized point, referred to as a video proxy,
which provides the necessary output transmission rates with the
required amount of robustness. With the use of this proposed
algorithm, error resilience can be added to an already compressed
video stream at an intermediate stage at the edge of two or more
different networks through two resilience schemes, namely the
adaptive intra refresh (AIR) and feedback control signaling (FCS)
methods. Both resilience tools impose an output rate increase
which can also be prevented with the proposed novel technique in
this paper. Thus, an error-resilient video transcoding scheme is
presented to give robust video outputs at near target transmission
rates that only require the same number of GPRS timeslots as
the nonresilient schemes. Moreover, an ultimate robustness is
also accomplished with the combination of the two resilience
algorithms at the video proxy. Extensive computer simulations
demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system
Creative Coding and Visual Portfolios for CS1
In this paper, we present the design and development of a new approach to teaching the college-level introductory computing course (CS1) using the context of art and creative coding. Over the course of a semester, students create a portfolio of aesthetic visual designs that employ basic computing structures typically taught in traditional CS1 courses using the Processing programming language. The goal of this approach is to bring the excitement, creativity, and innovation fostered by the context of creative coding. We also present results from a comparative study involving two offerings of the new course at two different institutions. Additionally, we compare our results with another successful approach that uses personal robots to teach CS1
Creative Coding and Visual Portfolios for CS1
In this paper, we present the design and development of a new approach to teaching the college-level introductory computing course (CS1) using the context of art and creative coding. Over the course of a semester, students create a portfolio of aesthetic visual designs that employ basic computing structures typically taught in traditional CS1 courses using the Processing programming language. The goal of this approach is to bring the excitement, creativity, and innovation fostered by the context of creative coding. We also present results from a comparative study involving two offerings of the new course at two different institutions. Additionally, we compare our results with another successful approach that uses personal robots to teach CS1
Showing Up is Half the Battle: Assessing Different Contextualized Learning Tools to Increase the Performance in Introductory Computer Science Courses
Contextualized learning is considered beneficial for student success. In this article, we assess the impact of context-based learning tools on student grade performance in an introductory computer science course. In particular, we investigate two central questions: (1) does the use context-based learning tools, robots and animations, affect student performance? (2) How do age, gender, and ethnicity impact performance? To explore these questions, we compare the impact of educational robots in conjunction with animations against a second group of students who use only animations, while controlling for the effects of gender and ethnicity. We find that the addition of robots did not improve the students’ performance in our setting. Instead, our findings support the existing literature stating that gender and ethnicity are important predictors of student success. We also find that attendance is a strong predictor of student success
Learning Dimensions: Lessons from Field Studies
In this paper, we describe work to investigate the creation of engaging programming learning experiences. Background research informed the design of four fieldwork studies involving a range of age groups to explore how programming tasks could best be framed to motivate learners. Our empirical findings from these four studies, described here, contributed to the design of a set of programming "Learning Dimensions" (LDs). The LDs provide educators with insights to support key design decisions for the creation of engaging programming learning experiences. This paper describes the background to the identification of these LDs and how they could address the design and delivery of highly engaging programming learning tasks. A web application has been authored to support educators in the application of the LDs to their lesson design
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