Education Innovation: LEGO MindStorms - Cost-Effectively Expanding CS Students' Horizons and Enthusiasm Outside the (Desktop) Box

0306096Frank KlassnerVillanova大学教育创新：LEGO MindStorms -经济有效地扩展CS学生的视野和热情（桌面）盒子外$49万该项目涉及来自三个机构的研究人员- Villanova大学，密西西比大学和阿尔玛学院-并且是由美国国家科学基金会DUE部门授予的概念验证补助金DUE-0088884的后续项目。目前的项目包括四项活动：开发一套40个作业和实验室练习，使用LEGO MindStorms机器人套件来促进学生在ACM/IEEE计算机课程2001 （CC2001）指南中的积极学习；识别和维护软件技术，使MindStorms平台支持所开发的任务范围；通过MindStorms平台的探索，激发学生对先进计算机科学研究成果的兴趣、理解和应用；以及衡量“头脑风暴”平台的教学效果。在某种程度上，这个项目的动机是对过去五年CISE领域的研究努力和就业机会的调查，该调查显示了几个趋势，这些趋势可能对传统的本科计算机科学课程设计产生严重影响，即更加重视移动网络、无处不在的计算、大规模网络、实时系统、代理架构、机器人中的嵌入式信号分析系统和信息检索系统。分布式系统设计和万维网语言设计，部分原因是万维网上网络功能的爆炸式增长。计算机科学学士学位毕业生的就业机会越来越需要在分布式计算解决方案和嵌入式编程解决方案方面的能力，在更大的万维网背景下。该机构在美国国家科学基金会CCLI概念验证资助下的机器人项目实践经验表明，当本科生将这些原理应用于构建机器人和设计解决问题的控制代码时，他们学习新计算原理的动机显着增加。然而，可用于实施这种方法的教育材料的缺乏阻碍了这种做法的实施。本项目确定了cc2001中14个知识领域中的7个可以通过面向机器人的项目在教学上得到加强：编程基础、算法和复杂性、编程语言、架构、操作系统、智能系统和以网络为中心的计算。这个项目的所有目标领域都包含了委员会指定为“核心”主题的材料。因此，在基于cc2001的课程中，当在MindStorms机器人的背景下探索高级研究成果时，可以无缝地利用学生在核心主题方面的经验。本项目编制的材料将通过万维网和讲习班传播。

0306096Frank KlassnerVillanova UniversityEducation Innovation: LEGO MindStorms - Cost-Effectively Expanding CS students' Horizons and Enthusiasm Outside the (Desktop) Box$490,000This project involves investigators from three institutions - Villanova University, University of Mississippi, and Alma College - and is a follow up of a Proof of Concept grant, DUE-0088884, awarded by the DUE Division of NSF. The current project involves four activities: developing a set of 40 assignments and laboratory exercises that use LEGO MindStorms robot kits to promote active student learning across the ACM/IEEE Computing Curricula 2001 (CC2001) guidelines; identifying and maintaining software technology that is needed to make the MindStorms platform support the range of assignments developed; motivating students' interest in, understanding of, and application of advanced computer science research results through exploration with the MindStorms platform; and measuring the pedagogical efficacy of the MindStorms platform. In part, this project was motivated by a survey of research efforts and employment opportunities in CISE fields over the past five years that showed several trends that may have serious implications for the traditional undergraduate computer science curriculum design - that is, greater emphasis on mobile networking, ubiquitous computing, large-scale networks, real time systems, agent architectures, embedded signal analysis systems in robotics and information retrieval systems, distributed system design, and world-wide-web language design in the research community, in part because of the explosion in network capabilities on the WWW. Employment opportunities for computer science BS graduates are increasingly requiring competence in distributed computing solutions and embedded programming solutions within the greater context of the World Wide Web. This institution's experience with hands-on robotics projects, in an NSF CCLI proof-of-concept grant, indicated that undergraduate students' motivation to learn new computing principles increases significantly when they apply those principles to constructing robots and designing problem-solving control code for their creations. However, scarcity of educational materials available to implement this approach is a deterrent to its pursuit. This project identifies seven out of the fourteen knowledge areas in the CC2001that might be pedagogically enhanced through robotics-oriented projects: Programming Fundamentals, Algorithms and Complexity, Programming Languages, Architecture, Operating Systems, Intelligent Systems, and Net-Centric Computing. All of the areas targeted in this project contain material that the committee has designated as 'core' topics. Thus, advanced and elective courses in a CC2001-based curriculum can seamlessly take advantage of students' experiences in the core topics when exploring advanced research results in the context of MindStorms robotics. The materials developed by this project will be disseminated both through the WWW and workshops.