Collaborative Research: BPC-DP: C.A.R.E.: Computer and Robotics Education for African American Students

Spelman College, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Spelman College together with Carnegie Mellon University propose an integrated set of three educational programs to broaden the participation of African Americans in computing. The first is a series of two-week Computer And Robotics Education (CARE) summer camps for African American middle school students, with follow-up activities during the school year. The second is an annual CARE Computer Olympiad for African American undergraduates, which will build on successful Olympiads already held at Spelman. This program will expand into a series of regional fall Olympiads followed by a national Olympiad in the spring. The third is a CARE Robotics course in "cognitive robotics" to be jointly developed with Carnegie Mellon University. The course will jump start robotics education at HBCU's by providing state of the art robotics equipment (Sony AIBO robot dogs), lecture notes and other curriculum materials, along with the necessary faculty training and technical support. The course will use the Tekkotsu software framework under development at Carnegie Mellon. One-day Tekkotsu workshops will also be offered during the National Olympiads to familiarize additional HBCU faculty and selected students with this new technology. Both the Olympiad competition and the course will be disseminated to other HBCU's over the course of the proposed grant.