Students test out robotics class and robots take to the halls
February 15, 2008
by Gili Kliger
“There is a robot lost in K-building,” wrote math, computer science and – as of this school year – robotics teacher Josh Block in an email that he sent to the faculty on November 28.
“[It is] programmed to avoid all obstacles. While a student wasn’t paying attention, his robot wandered off. We can not find it in K-101.”
Indeed, this fall small, vehicle-like robots could be seen strolling through, and occasionally getting lost in, the halls of Greeley, after Block received a $37,000 grant from the Chappaqua School Foundation to develop and launch an innovative new course in robotics. The idea for the course came to him four years ago at a class at Carnegie Mellon. As a student in the class, Block thought about the skills students would need in a first semester computer science course and looked at hands-on ways in which students could be taught these introductory skills. After some brainstorming, he realized that a robotics class would address these concerns. “One of the challenges we face is how to increase student interest in the computer science field,” Block said. “Robotics-based, hands-on activities make the introductory computer science course understandable to a wider range of learners.”
Traditional Visual Basic course morphs into Introduction to Robotics course
Once he had fleshed out the idea, Block headed into the execution phase, which began by developing the curriculum. After several revisions, he wrote the proposal for the grant he would need in order to fund the course. He shared his proposal with a number of organizations before the Chappaqua School Foundation accepted it. The grant proposed the “Teaching with Tablets and Robotics” program that would provide students with Parallax Boe-Bot Robots kits and tablet PCs. Once he received the grant of $37,000, the biggest the Chappaqua School Foundation has ever awarded, Block began to plan the implementation of the program at Greeley. This year, the semester-long Visual Basic course that has served as the introductory computer science course for years became a semester-long Introduction to Robotics course. This fall, 28 students enrolled. Other components of the program include making use of tablet PCs in other computer science and math courses, and possibly founding an extracurricular competition group.
As these 28 students took their seats in K-101 this fall, they essentially became the guinea pigs for Block’s new and ground-breaking course. “This year’s class,” he told them on the first day, “is, to an extent, an experiment.” The syllabus included some lecture-based classes in which Block introduced students to basic computer science skills, covering such topics as microcontrollers, basic programming, and ASCII code. There was also an emphasis placed on twenty-first century skills. As part of this emphasis, students learned about blogs, wikis, and social networking, and were required to answer homework questions on a class blog. These lessons culminated in a unit test at the end of the third week. Grades were not emphasized, however, because Block wanted the class to be more exploratory.
For much of the rest of the course, students applied what they had learned in the first few weeks to their work with robots. Using the manual that the Boe-Bot kit provided as well as Block’s own class instructions, students worked in pairs to assemble their robots and program them to perform some basic functions. Students also had the opportunity to install photo resistors that enabled the robots to navigate toward light and whiskers that enabled them to navigate around objects.
Programming the robots to maneuver through a maze a challenge
Later in the course, Block set up a maze and the students programmed their robots to go through a series of maneuverings to complete it. “Programming the robot to do the maze provided instant satisfaction,” said sophomore Sarah Karger. “You got to see the results of your hard work in a fun way,” she added. Other students in the class, however, pointed out that the satisfaction was not always instant. “The project, while it was really cool, also showed me how frustrating programming can be,” said Sarah’s twin sister, Rebecca Karger. “You would spend a lot of time programming the robot only to realize that even if the math works out, there are so many variables in the world outside of the computer that can affect the robot’s ability to complete the given task,” she noted. In the final weeks of the course, students had the opportunity to design their own projects. One group programmed their robot to play soccer, another to extinguish fire, and another worked to control their robot with a Bluetooth remote. Many groups, however, did not have time to finish their proposed projects.
“This semester, I wanted students to create and see what happens. I wanted to give them a chance to explore,” Block said. Over the course of the semester, Block kept a journal in which he wrote down his observations of the class each day. This will enable him to improve the class for next year. He intends, for example, to provide students with more time to complete their final projects. “The new schedule,” Block pointed out, “will help this class because students will have more time to complete their hands-on work.” The class next fall will also focus more on using sensor technology, rather than programming the robots to travel long distances. Block also observed that when students were given the freedom to work independently of strict instruction, about half of the class worked hard and the other half needed a bit more discipline and assistance. He will be looking for ways to address this issue for next year’s class. He also noted that half of the class far surpassed his expectations and was amazed at how fast students picked up on using the robots.
Learning computer science enhances problem solving skills
Studies have shown that learning computer science helps hone students’ problem solving skills, which may assist them on standardized tests and in other subject areas outside of math and science. Some schools even incorporate a quarter or semester of computer science in their math courses. This year’s robotics class served to raise awareness of - and generate more interest in - computer science. “It was a fun class - challenging at times, but fun,” said senior Robbie Young. “The class is really useful,” added sophomore Dana Azaguery. “I got the chance to learn about computer science without having to take a more serious course like JAVA,” she added. This year’s experimental robotics class has laid the groundwork for future classes like it. This particular class will continue to be revised over four years at which point – Block hopes - a solid, innovative, and interactive robotics class will thrive at Greeley. that is, so long as no robots are lost along the way.
Gili Kliger is a senior at Horace Greeley High School and a co-editor-in-chief of its student-run newspaper, The Greeley Tribune.
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