Robots in an Introductory Survey Course in Computer Science

计算机科学(31)我们使用移动机器人作为计算机科学入门调查课程的统一主题，面向所有专业的学生。我们的广度优先调查课程涵盖逻辑电路、机器组织和汇编级编程、高级语言编程、可计算性、人工智能和社会问题等主题。广度优先课程对非专业和计算机科学专业的学生都很有用，但面临着提供足够的深度和合适的项目来培养对材料的真正理解的问题。我们的项目涉及简单机器人的设计和建造，提供了一种将调查课程的不同主题联系起来的方法，并使学生能够通过做来学习(而不是通过被告知)的教学方法。具有多种解决方案的有趣问题正被用来挑战广泛的学生，并鼓励那些一直对自己的技术、科学或数学能力犹豫不决的人参与其中。我们正在麻省理工学院、斯沃斯莫尔、韦尔斯利和科尔比所做的工作的基础上，在这些地方使用机器人来激发兴趣，并使学生更容易获得课程材料。我们的适应是从这些高度挑剔的机构中获取工作，并将其带给我们的学生，同时增强内容，包括机器组织。

Computer Science (31) We are using mobile robots as a unifying theme in an introductory survey course in computer science, for students of all majors. Our breadth-first survey course covers topics in logic circuits, machine organization and assembly-level programming, programming in a higher-level language, computability, artificial intelligence, and social concerns. Breadth-first courses are useful for non-majors as well as computer science majors, but face the problem of providing enough depth and suitable projects to develop real understanding of the material. Our projects involving the design and construction of simple robots provide a means for connecting the different topics of a survey course and enable a pedagogical approach in which students learn by doing (rather than by being told). Interesting problems with multiple kinds of solutions are being used to challenge a broad range of students and encourage participation by those who have been hesitant about their abilities in technology, science, or mathematics. We are building upon work performed at MIT, Swarthmore, Wellesley and Colby where robots have been used to generate interest and make the course material more accessible to students. Our adaption is to take the work from these highly selective institutions and bring it to our students while simultaneously enhancing the content to include machine organization.