Developing an online learning module for C programming and Lego robot EV3 programming
Jinlei Li · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2020
Recently, the school of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) at the Royal institute of technology (KTH) proposed to introduce a new learning module for the course Engineering Methods - II1300. The module is to introduce both C programming and LEGO robot EV3 programming, to help the students to complete a course project. A literature study was first conducted to investigate how a learning module should be designed and what information was needed. Data from a survey routinely performed by the department and another in this work were collected. The data showed a wide variety in background knowledge among the students who attended the course. Many students believed that they did not receive enough learning material to complete the C assignments nor sufficient instructions for programming the LEGO robot. Based on the data analyses and guided with the Constructive Alignment method and the Scaffolding theory, a specification was created, and the desired learning module was developed. The module provides necessary instructions, good code examples and relevant resources that may be needed. It arranges a balanced amount of learning activities. It is expected to guide the learningprocess and improve the learning efficiency, and to facilitate the teaching process and reduce the workload. The learning module highlights a structured and modular way to teach fundamentals of C programming using the Scaffolding teaching method in conjunction with Constructive Alignment. The module can be reused with small modifications for similar courses by substituting the contents. Moreover, the strategy and the methods, which the project adopted to develop the module, are rather general and in principle are applicable to most online course development.