Teaching Programming through Engineering and LEGO Robotics

• Ethan Danahy

Kids of all ages love LEGO, and, as the LEGO Robotics toolsets become more prolific in educational environments, an opportunity arises to teach programming and computer science to students of all ages, even down to very early elementary. By involving real-world implementations of the students' virtual coding, in the form of engineering and robotics challenges, hands-on activities reinforce the software concepts through physical realizations that leave lasting impressions on the learners. This talk will focus on some of the engineering and education research being done at Tufts University on the topics of LEGO Engineering with a special focus on the computer science knowledge and programming skills to which the students (in grades K-12, but also in university) are exposed to through the experience.

10/16/2010 1:30:00 PM to 10/16/2010 2:45:00 PM

DCL: 1320

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