Teaching a Core CS Concept through Robotics

We implemented single-session workshops using the Thymio- II—a small, self-contained robot designed for young stu- dents, and VPL—a graphical software development envi- ronment based upon event handling. Our goal was to in- vestigate if the students could learn this core computer sci- ence concept while enjoying themselves in the robotics con- text. A visual questionnaire was developed based upon the combined Bloom and SOLO taxonomies, although it proved difficult to construct a questionnaire appropriate for young students. We found that—despite the short duration of the workshop—all but the youngest students achieved the cog- nitive level of Unistructural Understanding, while some stu- dents achieved higher levels of Unistructural Applying and Multistructural Understanding and Applying

Moon Rover Challenge. An educational space robotics resource to teach programming and promote space careers at secondary education levels

Nowadays, space educational activities are essential in schools, in order to show the importance of space research and exploration in our daily and future life. Space related activities provides teachers tools and a fascinating context to get students involved in different disciplines which are ‘difficult’ for them. In addition, programming is one of the most important skills in technological areas. Space technology is full of programming, algorithms, and code. However, students’ perception is different because they think coding is difficult and they will not be able to program a satellite or a rover, so they are not very interested and motivated to learn to program. A widely useful tool to motivate students to learn programming is educational robotics, which uses physical robots and block-based programming interfaces to attract their attention. However, these robots are not accessible for all schools, and it is difficult to use robots in the online environment created by COVID-19. Therefore, online tools are becoming more and more important in education, because they make activities more flexible and accessible for schools and students. In this paper, we show an educational resource that used space robotics as a context achieving two main objectives: to promote space careers and teach and motivate high school students to learn how to program. We also show our conclusions and lessons learned, after implementing this project in two different situations. The students’ challenge is to control a Moon rover, which is on the Moon surface in order to fulfil a space mission. The activities can be performed completely online using an online simulation tool and block-based programming language. We tested the educational material in an online event with many high school pupils and also in a face-to-face lesson with pupils studying a technical module. The experiences and feedbacks were positive and allowed us to improve the initial activities. Moreover, the results show students are more interested in space careers after completing the challenge. Space robotics give us a perfect opportunity to introduce subjects such as programming, robotics, and technology to students. These areas will be essential in the future and we have to change perception of the space industry because it is fundamental for the development of space exploration and our societ

Improving the Thymio Visual Programming Language Experience through Augmented Reality

This document is a roadmap describing two directions for improving the user experience of the Thymio robot and its visual programming language using augmented reality techniques

Making High-Performance Robots Safe and Easy to Use for an Introduction to Computing

Robots are a popular platform for introducing computing and artificial intelligence to novice programmers. However, programming state-of-the-art robots is very challenging, and requires knowledge of concurrency, operation safety, and software engineering skills, which can take years to teach. In this paper, we present an approach to introducing computing that allows students to safely and easily program high-performance robots. We develop a platform for students to program RoboCup Small Size League robots using JavaScript. The platform 1) ensures physical safety at several levels of abstraction, 2) allows students to program robots using the JavaScript in the browser, without the need to install software, and 3) presents a simplified JavaScript semantics that shields students from confusing language features. We discuss our experience running a week-long workshop using this platform, and analyze over 3,000 student-written program revisions to provide empirical evidence that our approach does help students.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

A sociological contribution to understanding the use of robots in schools: the Thymio robot

The Thymio II robot was designed to be used by teachers in their classrooms for a wide range of activities and at all levels of the curriculum, from very young children to the end of high school. Although the educationally oriented design of this innovative robot was successful and made it possible to distribute more than 800 Thymio robots in schools with a large majority in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, it was not sufficient to significantly raise the number of teachers using robot technology in their teaching after three years of commercialization. After an introduction and a first section on the design of this educational robot, this paper presents some results of a sociological analysis of the benefits and blockages identified by teachers in using robots, or not, with their pupils

Bringing robotics into formal education using the Thymio open source hardware robot

Mobile robots are valuable tools for education because of both the enthusiasm they raise and the multidisciplinary nature of robotics technology. Mobile robots give access to a wide range of fields, such as complex mechanics, sensors, wireless transmission, mathematics, and computer science. However, despite their potential as educational tools, robots are still not as widespread in schools as they could be. In this article, we identify five key reasons: lack of diversity, high cost, noninclusive design, lack of educational material, and lack of stability over time. Then, we describe our answers to these problems, as we implemented them in the Thymio project: a mature mass-produced open-hardware robot, at a low price, with a multiage and gender-neutral feature set, and with a design promoting creativity, facilitating learning, and providing a wide range of interaction possibilities from built-in behaviors to text programming, passing through different visual programming environments. We highlight some neglected key issues that differentiate open-source hardware from open-source software, for instance the legal uncertainty of designing open hardware using professional computer-aided design (CAD) tools and the difficulty to distribute the development. Our solution to these being to increase the awareness of CAD editors to open-source hardware and to provide a two-layer development model for hardware

R2T2 : Robotics to Integrate Educational Efforts in South Africa and Europe

This paper presents the first cross-continental collaborative robotic event based around education. It was entitled R2T2 and it involved more than 100 children from Europe and Africa. Based on remote programming, video streaming feedback, and a scenario of collaborative space rescue, R2T2 focused on pedagogical elements that are fundamentally different than those characterizing classic robotic competitions. The value of these educational actions is shown through the results of a survey conducted among the participants; the working methodologies by the African students were significantly enhanced and there was a broad inclusion in general, despite the fact that some gender issues lingered. This paper's contribution is to demonstrate an approach to implementing a north-south collaboration to get school students excited about robotics and the problem-solving skills required in engineering

Aspectos de adquisición de lenguaje en la enseñanza de programación

Tesis (Doctor en Ciencias de la Computación)--Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, 2020.La enseñanza de la programación se ha transformado en un tema popular en los últimos años. Sin embargo, la programación es una disciplina tan reciente que poco se sabe de su didáctica. El objetivo general de esta tesis es estudiar cómo diversos factores del área de adquisición de lenguaje influencian la enseñanza de la programación. Primero, estudiamos la enseñanza de programación desde el punto de vista de la expresividad del lenguaje. Segundo, exploramos el impacto de distintos tipos de interactividad formativa automática asociada a distintos tipos de errores que ocurren durante el proceso de enseñanza de un lenguaje de programación. Tercero, propusimos y comparamos diferentes métodos basados en técnicas de procesamiento de lenguaje natural y de aprendizaje automático para evaluar el nivel de fluidez de un estudiante durante el proceso de adquirir un lenguaje de programación.Teaching programming has become popular in recent years. However, programming is a recent discipline and we do not know enough about how to teach it. The general objective of this thesis is to study how different factors in the area of language acquisition influence the teaching of programming. First, we study programming language acquisition from the point of view of the expressiveness of the language. Second, we explore the effect of different types of automatic formative interactivity associated with different types of errors during the process of teaching a programming language. Third, we propose and compare different natural language processing and machine learning techniques to assess a student level of fluency during the process of acquiring a programming language.Fil: Gómez, Marcos Javier. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación; Argentina

Self-efficacy and engagement as predictors of student programming performance: An international perspective

High attrition and failure rates are a common phenomenon in introductory programming courses and are a major concern since course instructors are not able to successfully teach novice programmers the fundamental concepts of computer programming and equip them with skills to code solutions to programming problems. Existing solutions that attempt to minimise the high failure and attrition rates have had little impact on improving the performance of the novice programmers. However, the behaviour of the novice programmer has received little attention from introductory programming course instructors although the literature on learning theory suggests that self-efficacy and engagement are two behavioural factors that affect a student’s performance. This study fills the gap in existing research by examining the effect of programming self-efficacy on the engagement of novice programmers, and the effect of their engagement on their programming performance. A research model that proposes a link between programming self-efficacy and the indicators of engagement that are specific to the context of introductory programming courses, and a link between the indicators of engagement to the programming performance of the novice programmer was developed. A three-phased mixed methods approach which consists of two survey questionnaires and focus groups was used to validate the research model. Data was collected in New Zealand and in Malaysia with 433 novice programmers participating in the survey questionnaires while 4 focus groups were held to refine and validate the indicators of engagement in introductory programming courses. The findings of the focus groups confirmed that participation, help-seeking, persistence, effort, deep learning, surface learning, trial and error, interest, and enjoyment were indicators of engagement while gratification emerged as a new indicator of engagement in introductory programming courses. The data from the survey questionnaires were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). This study found that the programming self-efficacy beliefs of novice programmers had a strong influence on their engagement behaviour with the exception of help-seeking, while effort, enjoyment, deep learning, and surface learning were predictors of programming performance. These findings have implications for introductory programming course instructors and the recommendations emerging from this study include making clear behavioural expectations, designing courses which stimulate and support effective behaviour, and making novice programmers aware of the engagement behaviour that does not lead to better programming performance. This study contributes to the theory of teaching computer programming, and to the practice of designing and delivering introductory programming courses