Scaffolding Strategies for Teaching ROS 2: An Approach Using JupyterLab and iRobot™ Education’s Create® 3 Robot

Kathryn Lara Wujciak; Briana M Bouchard; Chris Buergin Rogers

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Robotics and Circuits
Tagged Division: Computers in Education Division (COED)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47954

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Paper Authors

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Kathryn Lara Wujciak Tufts University

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Kathryn Wujciak recently graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing a master's in the same field this year. She has been a teaching assistant for multiple robotics courses throughout her time at Tufts. Kathryn is passionate about educational robotics and hopes to lower the barrier of entry for new engineers.

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Briana M Bouchard Tufts University

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Briana Bouchard is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. She earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, M.S. in Engineering Management, and B.S. in Mechanical engineering from Tufts University. Her research focuses on educational robotics and increasing the accessibility of ROS 2 using the Create 3 robot. She primarily teaches engineering design and introductory robotics courses at Tufts and has previously taught courses in electronics, electronic portfolios, and the Internet of Things.

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Chris Buergin Rogers Tufts University

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Chris is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University with research in engineering education, robotics, musical instrument design, IoT, and anything else that sounds cool..

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Abstract

This paper presents an innovative approach for teaching Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 to undergraduate students using JupyterLab and iRobot™ Education’s Create® 3 Robot. ROS 2 is a communication framework for robotics development that is widely used and has an active open source community. Unfortunately, there is a lack of documentation and educational tools specifically for novice learners. Therefore, it is often taught in graduate courses and many students don't get any exposure as undergraduates. To address this gap, the paper provides an overview of our experience integrating ROS 2 into a first-year introductory engineering course using JupyterLab as a scaffolding tool in combination with the Create® 3 Robot in order to foster project-based learning in robotics.

Our course, Introduction to Engineering: Remote Exploration with Create® 3, was composed of 31 first-year engineering students from multiple engineering disciplines at a medium-sized private university in New England. The design of this course is based on various principles of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a teaching strategy that provides support to students as they learn new concepts and skills. It is an educational strategy that instructors use to bridge the gap between the student’s current understanding and more complex concepts. This structured framework supports and guides learners while gaining new skills or knowledge, and fades as students become more proficient. In addition, collaborative learning encourages students to engage in discussions and evaluate different perspectives, which helps develop their critical thinking skills. Collaboration during project-based learning (PBL) also aids in comprehension of complex topics. Open-ended problems that are worked on in teams leave room for students to exhibit their creativity and passion throughout the projects. Although collaboration is key to project work, it is important to provide opportunities for students to actively participate in individual learning which can enhance collaboration in the future. They learn essential skills in independent work that they can later apply in collaboration with their peers. Thus, the combination of individual learning (with scaffolding techniques) and collaborative learning is optimal when teaching advanced engineering topics.

Our course approach largely focused on PBL outside of class. During class, individual scaffolding activities proved to be the most effective method for comprehension of new topics. There were multiple technology-integrated learning activities used in class that include a number of different scaffolding techniques within them. The JupyterLab and robot setup made it possible to implement both domain-general and domain-specific scaffolding techniques to optimize learning for students both individually and collaboratively. The use of JupyterLab allowed students to learn basic skills at an individual pace which could then be applied to collaborative projects. In these collaborative settings, student interactions with each other and the undergraduate teaching assistants were observed and documented in field notes. The analysis of these notes paired with the experiences of the instructional team support the findings of prior research on scaffolding. Scaffolding eases students into understanding, avoids teaching complex concepts up front, and gives students autonomy in their learning. The scaffolding strategies presented in this paper provide an accessible way to teach ROS 2 to undergraduate students with limited coding experience.

Citation
Format

Wujciak, K. L., & Bouchard, B. M., & Rogers, C. B. (2024, June), Scaffolding Strategies for Teaching ROS 2: An Approach Using JupyterLab and iRobot™ Education’s Create® 3 Robot Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47954

TY - CPAPER
AB - This paper presents an innovative approach for teaching Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 to undergraduate students using JupyterLab and iRobot™ Education’s Create® 3 Robot. ROS 2 is a communication framework for robotics development that is widely used and has an active open source community. Unfortunately, there is a lack of documentation and educational tools specifically for novice learners. Therefore, it is often taught in graduate courses and many students don&#39;t get any exposure as undergraduates. To address this gap, the paper provides an overview of our experience integrating ROS 2 into a first-year introductory engineering course using JupyterLab as a scaffolding tool in combination with the Create® 3 Robot in order to foster project-based learning in robotics.

Our course, Introduction to Engineering: Remote Exploration with Create® 3, was composed of 31 first-year engineering students from multiple engineering disciplines at a medium-sized private university in New England. The design of this course is based on various principles of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a teaching strategy that provides support to students as they learn new concepts and skills. It is an educational strategy that instructors use to bridge the gap between the student’s current understanding and more complex concepts. This structured framework supports and guides learners while gaining new skills or knowledge, and fades as students become more proficient. In addition, collaborative learning encourages students to engage in discussions and evaluate different perspectives, which helps develop their critical thinking skills. Collaboration during project-based learning (PBL) also aids in comprehension of complex topics. Open-ended problems that are worked on in teams leave room for students to exhibit their creativity and passion throughout the projects. Although collaboration is key to project work, it is important to provide opportunities for students to actively participate in individual learning which can enhance collaboration in the future. They learn essential skills in independent work that they can later apply in collaboration with their peers. Thus, the combination of individual learning (with scaffolding techniques) and collaborative learning is optimal when teaching advanced engineering topics.

Our course approach largely focused on PBL outside of class. During class, individual scaffolding activities proved to be the most effective method for comprehension of new topics. There were multiple technology-integrated learning activities used in class that include a number of different scaffolding techniques within them. The JupyterLab and robot setup made it possible to implement both domain-general and domain-specific scaffolding techniques to optimize learning for students both individually and collaboratively. The use of JupyterLab allowed students to learn basic skills at an individual pace which could then be applied to collaborative projects. In these collaborative settings, student interactions with each other and the undergraduate teaching assistants were observed and documented in field notes. The analysis of these notes paired with the experiences of the instructional team support the findings of prior research on scaffolding. Scaffolding eases students into understanding, avoids teaching complex concepts up front, and gives students autonomy in their learning. The scaffolding strategies presented in this paper provide an accessible way to teach ROS 2 to undergraduate students with limited coding experience.
AU - Kathryn Lara Wujciak
AU - Briana M Bouchard
AU - Chris Buergin Rogers
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Scaffolding Strategies for Teaching ROS 2: An Approach Using JupyterLab and iRobot™ Education’s Create® 3 Robot
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47954
ER -