A robot in every classroom

Abstract

It has been suggested that the fall in the number of young people wishing to study computer science might be arrested by repackaging the current material into new modules which set it in a context that appeals and motivates. In this paper, we try this idea out by repackaging some introductory material into a "Robotics" module using a functional programming language. The advantages of our module are that its problem-based learning bridges the gap between the classroom and the laboratory, and that it allows everyone to concentrate on "computer science" rather than "machine" and "language" details. The disadvantages of our module are that its skills are not obviously those expected elsewhere, and that it has high setup and support costs.