Title :
Impact of learning experiences using LEGO Mindstorms® in engineering courses
Author :
Panadero, Carmen Fernández ; Romá, Julio Villena ; Kloos, Carlos Delgado
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Telematics Eng., Univ. Carlos III de Madrid, Leganes, Spain
Abstract :
It is well known by the educational community that active learning has a greater impact on the effectiveness of the learning process than other methods. It has long been recognized that the most effective learning techniques involve direct, purposeful learning experiences, such as hands-on or field experiences. In particular, computer-controlled models have been a useful aid in teaching programming, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics concepts. This paper describes our experience using LEGO Mindstorms® in three different scenarios: an elementary course on Programming, an advanced-level course on Artificial Intelligence and a third first-level course on Robotics. Our focus in those experiments is not on whether using LEGO kits is better than other methods to learn a programming language, AI algorithms or Robotics, but rather on introducing how this mixture of collaboration, competition and peer learning in a laboratory environment helps the students to increase their motivation and improve their professional skills such as problem solving, team work and leadership.
Keywords :
artificial intelligence; computer science education; educational computing; educational courses; engineering education; programming languages; robots; teaching; LEGO Mindstorms; artificial intelligence advanced-level course; computer-controlled models; engineering courses; leadership; learning experiences; professional skills; programming language course; robotics first-level course; team work; Artificial intelligence; Collaborative work; Computer languages; Education; Educational robots; Intelligent robots; Learning; Problem-solving; Programming profession; Robot programming; Active learning; Java programming; LEGO Mindstorms; assessment; empirical results; engineering courses; evaluation; learning experiences; surveys;
Conference_Titel :
Education Engineering (EDUCON), 2010 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Madrid
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-6568-2
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-6570-5
DOI :
10.1109/EDUCON.2010.5492534