Application of robot programming to the teaching of object-oriented computer languages

Object-oriented programming (OOP) abstract concepts are often difficult to understand for students, since it is not easy tofind the equivalence of such concepts in daily life. In this paper we will study if an interdisciplinary approach based on anintroduction to robotics androbot programming helpsthe studentin acquiring the OOP concepts. Forour experiments,weselected a sample of thirty individuals among students with an adequate knowledge of procedural programming. Thissample was divided into two groups of fifteen students each: for the first one we used a standard introductory approach toC#, whereas for the second one we developed an experimental course that included a demonstration program thatillustrated OOP basic concepts using the features of a specific type of commercial ball-shaped robot with sensing, wirelesscommunication and output capabilities. After the courses, both groups were evaluated by completing a multiple-choiceexam and a C# programming exercise. Our results show that the student group that attended the course including the robotdemo showed a higher interest level (i.e. they felt more motivated) than those students that attended the standardintroductory C# course. Furthermore, the students from the experimental group also achieved an overall better mark.