Engaging School Students with Tangible Devices: Pilot Project with .NET Gadgeteer

One of the challenges to promoting computer science in schools is to create and retain interest in programming. We describe a pilot project for primary and secondary students in Macau to introduce .NET Gadgeteer, a rapid prototyping platform for building electronic devices. The aim of the yearlong project was to generate interest in building devices, while learning the basics of programming concepts. Our experience with the weekend workshops indicates that the hands-on approach helped to engage the students. Results from a survey of 155 students point to increased engagement through active learning and growing enthusiasm to learn programming. We report some issues that surfaced and give recommendations for teachers who wish to consider such devices for teaching programming to novices. We hope to further explore ways to incorporate learning programming through tangible devices in the curriculum in local schools.