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英文资料TeachingRoboticsUsingLegoMindStormsAnthonyHirst,JeffreyJohnson,MarianPetre,BlaineA.Price,MikeRichardsDepartmentsofTelematics,DesignandInnovation,andComputingTheOpenUniversity,WaltonHall,MiltonKeynes,MK76AA,UKrobofesta@open.ac.ukAbstractWeaimtoproducearangeofeducationalmaterialstoteachroboticstoavarietyofaudiencesusingtheLEGOMindstormsRoboticsInventionSystem(TM).Webrieflyreviewtheprogrammingenvironmentscurrentlyavailableandconsidertheirappropriate-nessforourcandidateaudiences.Thereistheusualtrade-offbetweeneaseofuseandpower.Itissuggestedthatnosingleprogrammingenvironmentissuitableforallaudiences.Instead,aprogressionofenvironmentsfrommicroworlds,throughgraphicalprogrammingenvironments,totextuallanguagesseemstoprovidethebestwaytodevelopourteaching.Inthispaperwesynthesiseourthoughts,andpresentthemforconstructivecriticismbytheroboticscommunity.1.IntroductionRoboticshasbeenshownbyanumberofresearcherstobemotivatingandbeneficialinteachingscienceandtechnology(Beeretal.,1999).Webelievethatrobotsareapowerfulwaytomotivatelearning.Theconstructionandprogrammingofrobotsusesawiderangeofscientificandengineeringprinciples–keyskillsinthemoderntechnologicaleconomy(Wasserman,2002).Thisrangeofskillsnecessitatesteamwork,planningandrecordkeeping.WhatarethebestenvironmentandlanguageforteachingroboticsusingLegoMindStorms?GiventhedepthandbreadthofthingsthatweintendtoteachusingMindStorms,fromsimpleprogrammingtoengineeringprinciplesandsimulation；andgiventherangeofaudiencesweintendtoserve,fromyoungchildrentomatureuniversitystudents,thelanguageissueisbothcomplexandcrucial.Becausethelarge-scaleproductionofgoodqualityteachingmaterialsisexpensive,theissuehaseconomicaswellaspedagogicramifications.Inthispaper,wearenotconcernedwiththedivisionbetweenenvironmentandlanguage,andwegiveboththetermslanguageandenvironmentawideinterpretation.Forexample,wetreatadrop-and-dragenvironmentforcreatingcodeasa‘language’inthesamewayaconventionaltextuallanguagewithinaneditingenvironment.Thispaperisasynthesisofourresearchandanalysistodate.Wedonotattempttogiveadefinitiveanswertothequestionatthisstage,andweinvitereaderstocontributetothediscourse.2.Whatareweteachingtowhomandwhy?Thereiscurrentlyawidespreadappealofroboticstoadultsandchildrenofbothsexes.Thisisevidentinthesuccessoftelevisionprogrammesfeaturingrobots,andthegrowingnumberofrobotcompetitions.Wehavebroadeducationalaspirations,andwouldliketoharnesstheinterestandenthusiasmofallgroupsinthisaudienceforwidereducationalpurposes.Theprogrammingenvironment-languagechoicemustaccommodatethoseweareteaching,whatwearetryingtoteachthem,andourdeepereducationalaims.Thebreadthofthislistcomplicatesthechoiceofenvironmentandlanguage.Although,weassumethatsomestudentswillcommenceourcoursesasnovicestorobotics,theassumptionswecanmakeaboutexistingskills,speedoflearning,andappropriateconceptuallevelwilldifferamonggroups.Theneedsofnewlyliteratechildrenaredifferentfromthoseofhighlyliterateuniversitystudents,whicharedifferentagainfromtheneedsofmaturestudentsreturningtoeducation.Thissuggeststhatthereisnooneperfectprogrammingenvironment.Ourgoalmustbepragmatic:toserveasmanystudentsaspossiblewhilemakingthebestuseofourresources.2.1Whatarewetryingtoteachandwhy?Ourplanistwofold:*toteachroboticsperse；*touseroboticsasaspringboardtofurthertomotivatelearning.Roboticsitselfismulti-disciplinary,encompassingsubjectssuchasmechanicalengineering,electronics,control,communication,vision,real-timeparallelcomputing,andsystemsdesign.Allthesearerelevantinourteaching.Roboticsisalsoavehiclefordevelopingkeyskills(e.g.,teamwork,criticalthinking,planning,scientificobservationandrecordkeeping)；forreinforcingskillsinelementaryphysics,mathematics,andnumeracy；andforintroducingadvancedconceptsinsimulation,ArtificialIntelligence(AI),andcognition.Furthermore,robotsraiseprofoundquestionsaboutourrelationshipwithadvancedtechnologiesandtheirpotentialthatallowustoaddressethicalandsocialissuessurroundingtechnologyuse.2.2UsingrobotstobridgebetweenconceptandpracticeTraditionalmethodsofteachingcomputingtendtobeabstract,andstudentsoftenhavedifficultyreasoningaboutprogrambehaviourandrecognisingtherelevanceoftheiractivities.Thetroubleisthatgeneral-purposelanguagesarecomplex,inordertoaffordnecessaryrichnesstotheprogrammer.Unfortunatelyforthenovice,thisoftenmeans:‘youneedtoknowalottodoalittle’.Manylanguagesrequiretheuserstotypeinalargeamountofcodetoproducerelativelytrivialresults.Eitherstudentshavetolearnthesyntaxbeforetheycanwriteanyprograms(whichisfrustrating),ortheyhavetoentercodethatiseffectivelymeaninglesstothem.Analternativeapproachistouseagraphicalprogrammingenvironment.Programmingwithrobotsusingatailoredenvironmentthatprovidestrongvisualcuesandsupportssyntacticcorrectness:isconcrete:studentsprogramthingstheycanhandle,tobehaveinwaystheycanobserveinthephysicalworldisincrementaliscreativeadmitsmanysolutionsallowsmanipulationwithinaconstrainedcontextprovidesimmediatefeedbackhasbehaviour(andthusencouragesanthropomorphisation)usesavarietyofskillsallowscompletenovicestocreateinterestingoutcomes(e.g.,“gocollectatennisball”ratherthan“print‘Hello,world.’)Ourexperiencesofaristhatprogrammingwithrobotshelpslearnerstobridgebetweenconceptandpractice–andtoderiveprinciplesforthemselvesfromtheirownexperience.2.3RobotsareappealingTheappealofrobotsisevidentinthesuccessoftelevisionprogrammesfeaturingrobots,suchasRobotWarsandTechnoGamesintheUK,thatattractlargeaudiencesacrossawiderangeofages.Forover75yearsrobotshavebeenastapleofpopularculture.RecentfilmssuchStevenSpielberg’sA.I.havestimulatedpopulardebateaboutthepotentialofrobotics,andthedebutoftheSonyAIBOhasattractedsubstantialmediaattention.Competitionsinvolvingrobotsarepopularwithparticipantsandaudiencesalike.Robotsareattractivetoadultsandchildrenofbothsexes.3.ChoosingaprogrammingenvironmentOurexperienceinteachingcomputing(Griffithsetal.,1999,Woodmanetal.,1998),andthecurrenttrendsinsoftwareengineeringandAI,giveussomegeneralguidanceintermsofdesirablecharacteristicsforprogrammingenvironments/languages.Anobject-basedapproachwouldsupportandintegratewithourexistingcurriculumandisnowconsideredthebasisofsoundsoftwareengineering.ObjectOrientedprogrammingalsomakesiteasytorepresentandpresentcomplexbehaviourstonovices(Griffithsetal.,1999).Weemphasisetheimportanceofprovidingsoftwaresuitablefornovices.Anyprogrammingenvironmentfornovicesmustberobust–itshouldbehavereliablyandconsistently,anditmustnotcrash.Errors(iftheyappearatall),mustbemeaningful.Thehuman-computerinteraction,end-userprogramming,andvisualprogrammingliteraturesgiveussomeguidanceaboutrelevantconceptsinlanguageselection,asfollows.Thesortsofconceptsthatcanbelearnedfromsuchanenvironmentinclude:*thatalgorithmscanbeusedtosolveproblems*thatsolutionscanbedecomposedintorelativelysmallcomponents*thatmosttaskscanbeaccomplishedbyusingsequence,iteration,choice*objectconceptsMicroworldshavebeenusedontheentry-levelOpenUniversitycourseComputing:AnObject-OrientedApproachtoteachtheconceptsbehindobject-oriented(OO)technology.Inanearlyexample,thestudentsareabletosendmessagestoanon-screenfrog-tellingittohopleft,rightandupanddown,settingitscolour,andsoon.Inlaterlessonstheycreatesubclassesoffrogswithsomeinheritedpropertiesandsomenovelpropertiesparticulartothesubclass.3.1Simulation:separationofcontrollogicfromphysicalcontrolSimulationisamethodcommonplaceinthefieldofautonomousmobilerobotsforworkingoutandtestingcontrolstrategiesinisolationfromthephysicalsystem.

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