Abstract

Robotics is a functional approach for learning basic concepts of computing. In this role, it has been successfully used in introductory classes of Computer Science and Information Technology from primary to higher education. In a typical scenario, learners design and program robots in small groups that comprise between 2 and 4 students. Although such activity is stimulating for learners, the teacher of the class may find it hard to follow each individual student’s learning processes. Empirical Modelling gives the teacher a platform to monitor individual group processes by collecting data from the construction and programming of the robots and allowing the teacher to model the empirically observed process. Unlike most adaptive learning systems, the model and the modelling process are transparent and open to the teacher, and even the students are able to assess their own learning based on the derived models.

Download

• Pages 51-54 in conference proceedings at http://www.it.uu.se/research/publications/reports/2010-027/
  
• Full text PDF