Robots in an Introductory Survey Course in Computer Science

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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.