Leon Schram's Summer 2009  Workshops General Information Access Summer 2009 Workshop Matrix With Detailed Information

I am more excited about teaching Computer Sciences than I have been in twenty-five years. Over the last couple of decades my curriculum has changed considerably. Program languages have changed. Topics have increased. Case Studies have changed. Graphics has become more part of the courses and the case studies have steadily improved. I think everybody agrees that the current GridWorld Case Study is an excellent teaching tool. But all of this is nothing compared to what I am doing right now in my classroom and that is Lego Mindstorms Robotics. Robotics has been around for decades and our computer nerdy geek students have always eaten that stuff up and done amazing things with robots. The problem is that the type of robots and programs done with the robotics crowd and competition is too sophisticated, too time-consuming and too expensive for the whole classroom. Well think again. Lego has done a fabulous job with their "studless" construction sets that can make nifty robots. There is a very sophisticated programmable block that allows an amazing variety of interaction. Lego's Education branch motto is "If they are engaged; they are learning." I am not alone. There are a growing number of computer science teachers who are including Lego Robotics in their curriculum. I have created a sequence of Lego robot lab assignments that teach real computer science concepts. The Lego robots can be programmed in Lego's NXT language, C or Java. The NXT software is very visual, very intuitive and an ideal approach to starting students to understand the concepts of programming in a terrific hands-on way. I want all of you to see and learn how exciting this program is. I have taught computer science since 1982 and I have never seen students more involved, more enthusiastic and most importantly, more understanding many key programming concepts. At the 2009 workshops I want to help you include this terrific tool in your curriculum. At the workshops I will bring one Lego Robot kit for every two participants, exactly as I teach it in the classroom. I mean to really get you ready, because the start-up process can seem overwhelming. Lego MindStorms Robot topics at the workshops will include: What Lego hardware and software materials are necessary? Where do you order the Lego stuff and how much does it cost? Where do you get the money to buy the Lego materials? How do you build the robots and what teaching aids are available? How do you program the robots? What labs are effective with the students? You will find that the Workshops 2009 will be very much hands-on and I will promise you that you will walk away very enthusiastically about including robotics in your curriculum. I will also guarantee that you will feel very prepared and confident in building, programming and teaching robotics. My personal experience and the experience of other computer science teachers, who are doing this, is that there is terrific administrative support for the Lego Robotics. Curriculum directors, principals and parents are very enthusiastic about this teaching approach, which combines visual, auditory and especially the hands-on tactile learning experiences.

I have reasons to be especially enthusiastic not only due to the inclusion of Lego robots in my curriculum, but there is more. April 2008 the CollegeBoard announced elimination of the APCS-AB course. Initially I was annoyed and sad. Now I am excited. The AB course may be gone, but not the motivated students who soak up technology where they can find it. In the place of the APCS-AB course I teach a course titled "Advanced Graphics Programming" which is officially recorded under the Computer Science independent studies peims number. I did not teach APCS-AB this year. I switched to the Advanced Graphics course and I am glad I did. The course teaches advanced programming, like the APCS-AB course did, but it is done in the environment of creating video games. I have students now signing up for PreAP computer Science, many motivated by the Lego Robotics they have heard about, and they have already told me that they plan to continue with AP Computer Science and then Advanced Graphics Programming. The bottom line: The AP Computer Science AB course is gone and my computer science courses enrollment has increased in the front end and the back end. Next year I will have twice as many students in Advanced Programming than I previously had in APCS-AB. I will do a one-day unit on Advanced Graphics Programming at the AP Computer Science workshops and there will be one workshop devoted strictly to the teaching of that course. More information is provided with the details for that course on the next web page.