This project is part of the RoboCup Junior initiative. RoboCup Junior seeks to develop interest in learning about technology with a programme comprising workshops, camps and on-line material, culminating in local, national and international robot competitions. Robotics workshops have been developed to suit children at a range of developmental levels. A key focus of this project has been to enable children in rural communities to participate in robotics education.
This has been paired with the development of programming environments that enable children to program robotic applications at a level appropriate to their development. The project specifically addresses the needs of students in the “middle school”, students between the ages of 10 and 15. The proposed agent-based system will assist novice programmers in the design and implementation of computer programs. The agent will support novice programmers on three levels by providing helping them to
- understand the syntax of the programming language,
- find and correct semantic problems (testing and debugging), and
- plan aspects of the programming process.
Papers
Peta Wyeth and Mark Venz
OZCHI 2004 - Supporting Community Interaction: Possibilities and Challenges, 22-24 November 2004, Wollongong, Australia.
Scaffolding Children's Robot Building and Programming Activities
Peta Wyeth, Mark Venz and Gordon Wyeth
RoboCup International Symposium 2003, July 11-12, Padua, Italy.