Programming personal robots within an introductory computer science course for engineering majors

Abstract

This paper presents teaching modules for personal robot programming developed to help make introductory computer science more relevant for first-year engineering majors. The modules provide early exposure to the entrepreneurial mindset through student collaboration; creative thinking for ambiguous problems; learning and persisting through failure; and identifying societal needs. Survey results suggest robots as a context for programming can increase interest of engineering majors in computer science and help them retain confidence in their abilities as engineers.