TY - GEN
T1 - Robots as recruitment tools in Computer Science
T2 - 2010 AAAI Spring Symposium
AU - Kay, Jennifer
PY - 2010/10/22
Y1 - 2010/10/22
N2 - There is little doubt that the use of robots in introductory classes is an effective way to spark an initial interest in Computer Science and recruit students into our classes, and subsequently recruit some of them as Computer Science majors. But when the semester is over, the vast majority of our students are unlikely to see robots in the classroom again until they take advanced courses in AI or Robotics. It is time for those of us who are proponents of the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science to start thinking seriously about how we are using robots in our classes, and how to sustain the interest and enthusiasm of our students as they move on to more traditional courses. While the focus of this paper is on the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science courses, my goal is to initiate a more general discussion on the use of any sort of cool new technology (tangible or not) into both undergraduate and K-12 education. These technologies successfully attract students to study subjects that we ourselves are deeply engaged in. But we need to discuss as a community what happens when our individual classes conclude and the rest of their studies commence.
AB - There is little doubt that the use of robots in introductory classes is an effective way to spark an initial interest in Computer Science and recruit students into our classes, and subsequently recruit some of them as Computer Science majors. But when the semester is over, the vast majority of our students are unlikely to see robots in the classroom again until they take advanced courses in AI or Robotics. It is time for those of us who are proponents of the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science to start thinking seriously about how we are using robots in our classes, and how to sustain the interest and enthusiasm of our students as they move on to more traditional courses. While the focus of this paper is on the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science courses, my goal is to initiate a more general discussion on the use of any sort of cool new technology (tangible or not) into both undergraduate and K-12 education. These technologies successfully attract students to study subjects that we ourselves are deeply engaged in. But we need to discuss as a community what happens when our individual classes conclude and the rest of their studies commence.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77958022770
SN - 9781577354574
T3 - AAAI Spring Symposium - Technical Report
SP - 26
EP - 30
BT - Educational Robotics and Beyond
Y2 - 22 March 2010 through 24 March 2010
ER -