Digital Fabrication in Promoting Student Engagement and Motivation in University Courses

Abstract

Project work represents a significant part of university studies, making them an important concern for teaching development. Many universities have used international engineering competitions such as the Eurobot robotics competition as a tool in engaging and motivating students. Based on a theory on why these competitions are successful, we propose how smaller-scale projects can use digital fabrication and joint projects to reach similar results. We present a case study of an ongoing robotics project course in the field of computer engineering, showing how a practical implementation of these ideas and how the field-specific problem of software intercommunication and interoperability can be solved using the Robotic Operating System software framework. While the course is still in progress, initial observations indicate that the course is going to be successful.