Robot Hoedown & Rodeo at SIGCSE 2011

Rowan University, Glassboro NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The SIGCSE Robot Hoedown and Rodeo provides computer science faculty, teachers, and graduate students the opportunity to program a variety of robot platforms used in education. Though a significant minority of computer science educators has used robots, most computer science educators have never had the opportunity to experiment with one. Advances in consumer electronics and robotics have created several platforms which are sufficiently affordable to move to the "personal robot" model in which each student has his or her own robot for the duration of a class. There is recent evidence that students in courses with personal robots show greater motivation to complete assignments in the course and that these courses have better retention rates. This workshop primarily focuses on these relatively newer and more affordable platforms. This robotics workshop is part of SIGCSE 2011, the flagship conference for the Association for Computing Machinery?s Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education which attracts roughly 1200 attendees each year. The workshop provides conference attendees who have never programmed a robot before the opportunity to do so and offers those who already have programmed a robot the chance to work with alternative platforms. The creative results of programmed robotic dance movements and robot-specific programming challenges are publicly demonstrated throughout the conference.