The Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE)

2. The Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) Tucker Balch Associate Professor College of Computing at Georgia Tech Stewart Tansley Program Manager Microsoft Research

3. Contents • Attraction & retention in CS • Microsoft’s motivation & role • A program for addressing the challenge • The Institute for Personal Robots in Education • Proposal overview • The robots • Threadspace • Discussion

4. Computer Science in DeclineComputer Science Listed As Probable Major Among Incoming Freshman Source: HERI at UCLA

5. Microsoft Program Vision Partner with academia to bring measurable gains inComputer Science enrollment & retentionthrough the deployment of compellingrobotics-based technologiesin CS1/CS2 curriculum

6. Institute Concept • Concerted, focused applied research effort • Leverage best contemporary technologies and approaches • Target CS1/CS2 specifically • 3-year program, $1M from Microsoft • Use this to establish a center of excellence in robotics-based education • Mutually select a partner from a pre-qualified invited list of potential hosts, using an augmented form of MSR’s proven Request For Proposals program

7. The Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE)Hosted at theCollege of Computing at Georgia Tech,with Bryn Mawr College

8. Robotics Institute • The Institute for Personal Robots in Education • July 12 announcement • Hosted at Georgia Tech with Bryn Mawr College • $1M over 3 years, $1M matching funds • Goal: • To develop a proven, practical, reliable, cost-effective robot technology platform for teaching CS, targeted at CS1/CS2

9. Proposal Overview

10. Our Team’s Message • We have a shared vision with Microsoft: • Excite and educate students about CS; • Use context (robots) to make it happen. • We have experience: • CS education; • Robotics hardware; • Robotics software; • Assessment. • We have the team: MS, GT, BMC, GSU, UGA.

11. Instructional Robotics Our proposal is not to create a set of introductory robotics courses . . . but to create a set of introductory computer science courses using robots that reveal the fundamental concepts of computer science.

12. Elements of Our Plan • Novel robots for the student’s desktop. • Curricula: Robotics context for CS1 and CS2. • Pyro/Myro -- the leading educational robotics software platform. • Evaluation using proven assessment instruments. • Broad dissemination. • Communicating the message.

13. Element: Robots • Recall the PC. • Meet the PR. • Every student with herown robot. • Design goals: • Inexpensive • Reliable • “Brainless”

14. Element: Curricula “Use robots to reveal the fundamental issues in computer science” • This is a research problem. • We have roadmap pioneered by Mark Guzdial.

15. Element: CS Teaching Laboratories • Four diverse, world-class universities: • Georgia Institute of Technology; • Bryn Mawr College; • Georgia State University; • The University of Georgia.

16. Element: Software • The Microsoft Robotics SDK. • Visual Studio. • Pyro/Myro: the leading educational robotics software platform.

17. Element: Evaluation • Substantial experience with media-based CS education. • Test deployments at 4 universities. • Sophisticated assessment instruments.

18. Element: Dissemination • Initial deployment at 4 partner universities. • Two workshops for broader audience. • Textbooks (Prentice Hall or MS Press?)

19. Element: Communicating the Message

20. The Robots

21. Other Approaches TeRK LEGO “Big Iron”

22. Challenges • High cost: • Insurmountable obstacle for some schools; • Come to the lab, check out a robot…. • Doesn’t scale. • Compile, download and run: • Increases cost; • Decreases understandability. • Build the robot: • Requires support infrastructure; • Reduces reliability; • Intimidates girls.

23. Our Approach • Low cost. • Reliable: • Simple hardware; • Microsoft Robotics SDK. • Easy: • “Brainless;” • Leverages the Microsoft desktop.

24. Two Robots

25. CS1 Robot $30-- $20-- $10-- $10-- $5-- $5-- $5-- $10-- • Bluetooth + PIC • 2 x wheels & motors • 1 x actuator • 2 x IR range sensors • 2 x light sensors • Buttons, LEDs • Speaker • Assembly, packaging

26. CS2 Robot • Arm & camera

27. Threadspace

28. Threads  Threadspace Moving from a curriculum to an experience • explanation • exploration • advice Interactive application Structured instruction Continual advisement Focus on explainable, plannable, connectable

29. Interactive Applications Interactive what-if…? exploration tool of CS degree Statistics/Data gathering tool Repository of institutional knowledge Repository of past experiences/advice

30. Interactive Applications Who do I think I am? What must I do to be that person? What have I done? What am I doing? What can I do next?

31. Interactive Applications Allow students to plan a path through the degree • …from beginning to end • respect changes/what if exploration • understand threads, courses, careers and their relationships • perform ongoing auditing Inform Academic Services & Faculty • data for planning threads/courses/advice • interactive advising tool

32. Structured Instruction Required one hour course for all incoming students Introduces • threads • threadspace applications • why? why? why? Dovetails with CS 101 & 102 • computer science grounded in immediate experiences and long-term outcomes • why? why? why?

33. Continual Advisement Repository for experience Jobs/Careers • Thread-related career advice via video, other interactive experiences, including appropriate 1801 lectures • Résumé verbiage based on threads, courses, etc. • Common home for student exchanges, etc. Connections with introductory courses

34. Any questions?

35. © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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