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Increasing Diversity in CS Programs with Next Generation Robotics

This project aims to increase diversity in undergraduate computer science programs by developing programming modules that use AIBO Sony robot dogs. The materials are designed to engage students from various backgrounds and fields of study, fostering collaboration and problem-solving skills.

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Increasing Diversity in CS Programs with Next Generation Robotics

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  1. Extending the Next Generation Robot Laboratory to Increase Diversity in Undergraduate CS Programs SigCSE 200610:00 am NSF CCLI ShowcaseThursday, March 2, 2006 Maria Gini,Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Jan Pearce, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Berea College Karen Sutherland,Department of Computer Science, Augsburg College

  2. Extending the Next Generation Robot Laboratory to Increase Diversity in Undergraduate CS Programs Process: We are developing programming modules designed to encourage undergraduates majoring in fields such as health professions, business, art, and education to take more computer science courses. The approach is centered around using the AIBO Sony robot dogs at the very beginning of the computer science curriculum. Objectives: • To increase confidence through hands-on programming experiences. • To solve real-world and open-ended problems. • To foster cooperation by working in groups.

  3. Abstract By developing new CS course materials starting at the very beginning of the curriculum, this collaborative project is designed to increase the interest of women and other underrepresented groups in studying Computer Science and to provide them with tools that will help throughout their undergraduate years. The course materials are based upon Pyro, an easy to use programming system for robots written in Python and are designed for multiple robotics platforms such as Sony AIBOs and eROSIs. eROSIs are an inexpensive but powerful miniature robotic platform developed at the University of Minnesota and which are being considered for the monitoring of highly sensitive areas of populations such as elderly or disabled patients in residential care.

  4. Institutions The project team comes from three different types of institutions, so the materials created are being tested in different situations and should prove readily adaptable for a wide variety of educational environments.

  5. Motivation “Activities we have done over the last year using AIBOs with people of different ages, from elementary school to graduate students, and of different backgrounds, from computer illiterate to expert programmers, have shown consistently that people get engaged with the AIBOs in a way that is hard to duplicate with any other technology.”

  6. Aims • To place importance on the underlying design of algorithms regardless of programming language used. • to increase student learning by reinforcing the concepts covered in class in a way very different from the usual lab assignment of writing small bits of code. • To obtain feedback from the students on their reactions to working with the robots in this type of laboratory setting.

  7. Sample Topic: Include AIBO in an evaluative game to assess Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) in children. Steps: • Learn about methods to assess ADHD. Find an expert to help you. • Design a simple game using the AIBO around an existing method used to assess ADHD. • Evaluate the game with someone not from your group. • Ask an expert to give you feedback.

  8. Contacts and More Information Maria Gini,gini@cs.umn.eduDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Jan Pearce, pearcej@berea.eduDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Berea College Karen Sutherland,suther@navigation.augsburg.edu Department of Computer Science, Augsburg College “Using the Sony AIBOs to Increase Diversity in Undergraduate CS Programs,” M. Gini, J. Pearce, and K. Sutherland, to appear in the Proc. of the Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems, IAS-9, Japan, March 2006. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through cooperative grants DUE-0511304, DUE-0511352, and DUE-0511282.

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