PRE2018 3 Group10

Group members

Janneke van Oosterhout - 1248448

Wouter Wolthuis - 0942103

Timo Aerts - 0963375

Dorien Brugman – 1238166

Esther Dommisse – 0930091

Problem

Goal is to teach children in a fun way how to design software (concept of programming). E.g. sandwich robot is too basic and not-cool for older children but too hard to program for very young children. E.g. lego technique is too hard to program (or to boring with too few direct results) for children aged 9-12 although it looks really cool.

Users

The users are children aged 9-12 and primary school teachers.

Objectives

• Create a design, to teach children programming
  • Software
  • Hardware
• Build a prototype

Deliverables

• The Wiki
• Prototype
• Presentation

Requirements

Must Have

1. Must be able to move forward a certain defined distance.

2. Must be able to turn 45 degrees in place.

3. Must be able to discern between provided gray, white and black tiles underneath it.

4. Must be able to discern the difference between each provided “command block” (forward; backward; turn clockwise; turn counterclockwise; loop2; loop3; loop4; loopend).

5. Must be able to store each command of inputted “command blocks”.

6. 3 blocks for every command block.

7. Must be able to successively execute an entire chain of commands without user intervention.

8. Must be safe to use according to <enter safety standard>

Should Have

9. 95% of children aged 9-12 can use the product within 30 minutes.

10. The robot gives visual feedback when it is on a provided black tile.

11. A manual details how to use the robot.

Could Have

12.The robot gives auditory feedback when it is on a provided gray tile.

13. The robot discerns between provided red, green and blue tiles in addition to the tiles in requirement 3.

14.There are different storylines with different goals.

Won't Have

15. The robot is able to execute a “fire” command.

16. Hexagon shaped puzzle pieces.

17. Loop blocks with variable numbers (switch or holes to put numbers in).

18. The robot detects collisions with enemies on the board.

19. All agents act at the same time based on a synchronized tick system.

State of the art

Memorization based on doing instead of learning

[1] “The Physical Presence of a Robot Tutor Increases Cognitive Learning Gains” Summary: students learn faster when a robot tutor is used compared to a video or a voice speaking.

[2]“Peer-to-Peer Learning in Robotics Education: Lessons from a Challenge Project Class” Summary: learning by doing projects is more beneficial to students than learning by themselves or by lectures and exercises alone, although it requires to overcome a high learning curve and a lot of effort.

[3] “Learning through play: a review of the evidence” Summary: To strenghtening childeren's learning it is more useful to learn them through play.

[4] “Learning by doing” Summary: For a skill to develop, practice is needed. Thus it is best to teach by using cooperative projects than explanation.

[5] “How people learn” Summary: From a very young age, people are predisposed to learning by experimentation and discussion, rather than being told or explained things.

[6] “Classroom Reward Structures and Academic Performance” Summary: Group reward structures such as group reward contingencies and intergroup competition lead to a higher mastery of the subject material.

[7] “Cooperation Contrasted with Intra-Group and Inter-Group Competition.” Summary: Competitive conditions lead to a higher quality of performance and higher motivation than purely cooperative or individual conditions.

Programming at a young age

[8] “Supporting the learning of computer programming in an early years education” Yahya Alghamdi, M. Summary: Computer programming as mandatory subject will result in facing challenges and developing the programming skills.

[9] “Beginning computer programming for kids” PRIMO Summary: Reasons to teach kids programming: Coding nurtures creative expression, programming demystifies tech, it teaches problem solving and presistence, children learn by thinking about doing and children also learn to think about thinking.

[10] “Teaching coding to children: A methodology for Kids 5+”, Kaplancali, U.T. & Demirkol, Z. Summary: Teaching coding to children will give them a skill for life. Different techniques to teach children programming.

[11] “Problem solving by 5–6 years old kindergarten children in a computer programming environment: A case study”, Fessakis, G., Gouli, E., & Mavroudi, E. (2013). Summary: A case study where kindergarten children had to solve a series of computer programming problems, using a Logo-based environment. The research supports the view that children enjoyed the learning activities and had opportunities to develop mathematical concepts, problem solving and social skills.

[12] "ToonTalkTM—An Animated Programming Environment for Children", Kahn, K. (1996). Summary: ToonTalk: An animated programming environment inspired by video games, representing the programming language in animated images of e.g. cities, houses, birds, etc.. It is well suited for giving children the opportunity to build real programs in an easy and fun way.

[13] "KIBO robot demo: engaging young children in programming and engineering", Sullivan, A., Elkin, M., & Bers, M. U. (2015). Summary: KIBO: A robotics kit for children to construct their own robot with motors, sensors and craft materials. Children can also learn programming by exploring sequences, loops and variables. The kit uses no computer, but tangible programming blocks.

Robot in class

[14] “Robotics in the early childhood classroom: learning outcomes from an 8-week robotics curriculum in pre-kindergarten through second grade”, Sullivan, A. & Bers, M.U. Summary: A robot offers a playful way for children to engage them with technology and engineering.

[15] “A REVIEW OF THE APPLICABILITY OF ROBOTS IN EDUCATION”. Summary: the application of robots in different educational field (linguistics, science and technology) is reviewed, as well as the different roles that a robot can play in education (tutor, peer, tool).

[16] “Robots in the classroom - tools for accessible education” Summary: different roles of robots in education. There are many benefits of using robots with disabled students, unfortunately robots are currently little used in education.

[17] “Socialization between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education center” Summary: Toddlers first treat robots as tools but with frequent interaction the toddlers treat the robot like a peer rather than as a toy.

Lego-technik patent

[18] “Lego Technik patent. Date Oct. 8, 2002.” Summary: The patent for Lego Technik. Specifically "A toy building set comprising toy building elements which may be coupled together to build structures."

Planning

Who is doing what?

Hardware robot - Wouter

Instructie - Dorien

Software robot - Timo, Esther

Sensors software - Timo, Esther

Sensors - Wouter

Puzzelbord - Janneke

Design - Dorien, Janneke

User manual/scenarios - Dorien

Planning

Week	All	Janneke	Wouter	Timo	Dorien	Esther
1	Set up requirements, Read and summarize at least 25 papers	Edit Wiki	Order electronics part 1, design electronics	Divide robot-software in separate modules.		Divide robot-software in separate modules.
2			bare command blocks, Make and sensors MK1		User manual MK1
3		Board idea finished	Make and sensors MK2	Command blocks are read correctly, Light sensors read in optimal situations	User manual MK2, Design command blocks	Command blocks are read correctly, Light sensors read in optimal situations
4			Make and sensors MK3		User manual MK3
5		Board finished	Drive train	Light sensors are able to calculate spectrum and detect within those		Light sensors are able to calculate spectrum and detect within those
6		Design robot finished	Robot hardware and software testable and working	Robot hardware and software testable and working	Ideal user manual (with won't haves), Design robot finished	Robot hardware and software testable and working
7	Prepare presentation		Test with kids if possible