Abstract
We present preliminary experiences in designing a Computer Science Principles undergraduate course for all majors that is based on physical computing with the Arduino microprocessor platform. The course goal is to introduce students to fundamental computing concepts in the context of developing concrete products. This physical computing approach is different from other existing CS Principles courses. Students use the Arduino platform to design tangible interactive systems that are personally and socially relevant to them, while learning computing concepts and reflecting on their experiences. In a previous publication [1], we reported on assessment results of using the Arduino platform in an Introduction to Digital Design course. We have introduced this platform in an introductory computing course at the University of Hartford in the past year as well as in a Systems Fundamentals Discovery Course at the University of New Hampshire to satisfy the general education requirements in the Environment, Technology, and Society category. Our goal is to align the current curriculum with the CS Principles framework to design a course that engages a broader audience through a creative making and contextualized learning experience.
Publication Date
7-11-2016
Journal Title
Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
Publisher
ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Ingrid Russell, Karen H. Jin, and Mihaela Sabin. 2016. Make and Learn: A CS Principles Course Based on the Arduino Platform. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 366-366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925490
Rights
Copyright © 2016, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Comments
© 2016, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925490.