Teaching with robots

摘要

This paper describes a program in which undergraduates mentor teams of local middle and high school students on robotics projects. These teams learn and apply the scientific, mathematical, and computing fundamentals behind the construction of robots and the design of control algorithms. The mentors play a crucial role in the effectiveness of the program. Mentor training has evolved over the five-year life of the program from ad-hoc preparation to a service-learning course where students learn both the technical skills required to design, construct, and test, mobile robots and the pedagogical techniques necessary to mentor middle and high school students. We provide an overview of the program and some evaluation results.