--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anonymous FTP server: cher.media.mit.edu (18.85.0.47) This file: pub/el-publications/Theses/Martin/README Last updated: Wed Oct 18 19:57:26 1995 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This directory contains Fred G. Martin's PhD dissertation, entitled "Circuits to Control: Learning Engineering by Designing LEGO Robots." Please see the abstract at the end of this message. **************************************************************** A PRINTED AND SPIRAL-BOUND COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE ORDERED. Contact el-info@media.mit.edu, for information. **************************************************************** The directory contains eight PostScript files, to be printed in the following order: filename page range brief description -------- ---------- ---------------------------- toc.PS.Z 1 to 24 title page, acknowledgments, table of contents background.PS.Z 25 to 52 Background chapter introduction.PS.Z 53 to 68 Introduction chapter technology.PS.Z 69 to 124 Technology for Learning chapter systems.PS.Z 125 to 158 Ideal and Real Systems chapter design.PS.Z 159 to 182 Design Styles chapter conclusion.PS.Z 183 to 198 Conclusion and Future Directions chapter appendices.PS.Z 199 to 263 appendices and references Some important printing/distribution notes: 0. Make sure you transfer the files using binary mode and uncompress before printing. On Unix systems, you can use the command "zcat | lpr -P" to decompress on the fly. 1. This is a big print job. The files uncompress to about 20 megabytes; there are a fair number of photographic figures which take up the disk space and print time. 2. Figure at least an hour to print assuming reasonably fast printers. On older PostScript models, figure a few hours total as some PS figures will take up to 15 minutes per page to print. 3. The files will print on both sides of the page if your printer has duplex capability. Non-duplex printers should not be affected. 4. If you are having printing problems, REBOOT YOUR PRINTER AND TRY AGAIN. Many a PostScript error is caused by someone else's previous print job which redefines things in the printer's memory. This job should print on even an original Apple LaserWriter; it uses only the standard fonts (Times, Helvetica, and Courier) and the diagrams aren't conceptually difficult, they're just large bitmaps (mostly). 5. Printed and bound versions of this document are available from our publications office for a modest reproduction/mailing charge. Please contact Florence Williams, daria@media.mit.edu, for details. Best, Fred Martin fredm@media.mit.edu CIRCUITS TO CONTROL: LEARNING ENGINEERING BY DESIGNING LEGO ROBOTS by Fred G. Martin (C) 1994 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Abstract The nature of an undergraduate degree in engineering has undergone significant change since the end of the second World War. There is more theoretical content and less hands-on project work, reflecting both rapid advances in the state of scientific theory and educators' ideas about what engineering students need to know. Since the 1960's, engineering educators have been aware of problems with this new curriculum: students graduate with the ability to analyze clearly presented problems, but little or no background in doing design, which is the central work of a practicing engineer. In the past, employers accepted that design skills---including the ability to transform underspecified and messy design situations into actual problems to be solved---would be learned on the job, but this has become increasingly less acceptable in today's global economy. The focus of this thesis is an analysis of the situation through the development and evaluation of a model class experience for undergraduate engineering students that addresses the deficiencies in the traditional education. The model course has been developed with and tested on MIT undergraduate students over the past four years. It consists of a month-long intensive design workshop in which students are responsible for the conception, design, implementation, debugging, and competitive demonstration of an autonomous robotic device. The core work is the task of developing and testing this design-rich learning environment with the goal of discovering the characteristics of the setting which most powerfully encourages students' learning. The methodology employed is the implementation of a ``living laboratory'' in which a series of design environments (i.e., workshop design classes) are successively developed, tested, and evaluated. The evaluation is based on a variety of observational tools, including interaction with students during the progress of their projects, student written reports and journals, and analysis of the actual products of the students' work---robotic hardware and software systems. The purpose of the evaluation is to understand the issues that the students face in accomplishing their design task, in order to ascertain what and how they are learning, and to improve the materials and the classroom environment in the future. The outcome of this work is several-fold. Most importantly, it is a re-evaluation and further understanding of the role of design work in the undergraduate engineering degree program, with a focus on specific ways to build empowering experiences into the undergraduate curriculum. Secondly, it reveals that students have pre-existing conceptions of systems and control that make it difficult for them to deal with sensor noise and other erratic phenomena in their robot designs. Thirdly, it develops a set of technological tools for learning---a kit optimized for students to work on robotic design projects. While the particulars of this technology may become outdated in a few years, the more important nature of its interactive qualities and theory behind its design will not. Doctoral Committee Edith Ackermann Thesis Supervisor Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences Program in Media Arts and Sciences Pattie Maes Thesis Reader Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences Program in Media Arts and Sciences Seymour Papert Thesis Reader LEGO Professor of Learning Research Program in Media Arts and Sciences Donald Schon Thesis Reader Ford Professor Emeritus and Senior Lecturer Department of Urban Studies and Planning