AMK's Journal

Will freshman scheming be the same if their schemes are more about robots and less about Scheme?

This coming term marks the launch of C1, a new course designed to teach freshmen introductory electrical engineering and computer science in an integrated fashion using mobile robots as a case study.

If successful, C1 (6.099) could be a stepping stone in a revamped curriculum for Course VI, the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. Such curriculum modifications are scheduled for implementation by late 2007.

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Taught by Professors Abelson, Leslie Kaelbling, and Jacob White ’80, C1 is designed to give students a hands-on feel for electrical engineering and computer science, using a mobile robot as a case study. Assignments are “more open-ended and let students try stuff,” Kaelbling said.

The format of C1 is also fairly non-traditional, with one 1.5 hour lecture and 4 hours in lab every week. Students will work in groups of 3, with a robot. The student-to-staff ratio is also exceptionally low, at about 2:1.

Philosophically, the material tries to follow a “practice-theory-practice” model: First, a task is presented and students work on it. Then, students learn the theory that underlies the problem presented, and finally the students tackle the problem again, given these better techniques, Kaelbling said.

Content-wise, the class is a mix as well. The first four weeks of C1 will be a lot like the first four weeks of 6.001, Abelson said. The difference is that programming will be done in Python and not Scheme. (emphasis AMK)