Physical Computing: A Key Element of Modern Computer Science Education

Abstract

There is a growing global acknowledgement of the importance of computer science (CS) education. But traditional CS teaching tools and methodologies do not necessarily address the needs of a diverse, global student population or the latest developments in modern programming and data science. A recent growth area in CS education is physical computingcombining software and hardware to build interactive physical systems that sense and respond to the real world. This has been shown to result in broad engagement across a spectrum of users and has the potential to address shortcomings in established approaches. In this paper we provide an overview of physical computing in the classroom for those who are not familiar with the field. We start with a survey of prior research into which we have integrated our own experiences, and we summarize the benefits. We present an overview and taxonomy of popular physical computing devices and systems, and describe why many of these are fueling adoption. By way of example, we provide a detailed description of a modern physical computing system, the BBC micro:bit. We include several pointers for getting started in physical computing and hope that readers new to the area will be inspired to try it for themselves and to encourage others to do the same. We conclude by highlighting the opportunity to further extend the capability and reach of physical computing systems.

BIPES: Block Based Integrated Platform for Embedded Systems

“…In this way, it is important to be able to quickly program, test and interact with such devices. Moreover, learning programming offers several advantages and good results in skills development [1].…”

“…The approach provided by BIPES to program low cost microcontrollers can be also extended to more powerful devices. In order to accomplish such task, a Python REPL server using WebSockets was also developed: SerialWebSocketServer 1 . This software can be executed in any Python environment, such as a standard computer running Python, a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBone board running Python.…”

“…A related definition is "Physical Computing", which combines software and hardware "to build interactive physical systems that sense and respond to the real world" [1]. According to Hodges et al [1] there are still challenges and work to be done in such area and a close integration between hardware and software is critical to a good user experience. Such challenges motivated our applied research, which resulted in the development of BIPES.…”

A Survey and Taxonomy of Electronics Toolkits for Interactive and Ubiquitous Device Prototyping

“…In short, the toolkits often look, feel and work differently to each other. To give specific examples, some toolkits are based on a single 'development board' [105] while others are modular [52,57]; several toolkits require skills in either programming [11] or electronics [59] while others require no technical expertise or additional equipment at all [86]; sometimes the resulting prototype can run standalone [11,86,105] but sometimes it relies on continuous connection to a computer [109]; some toolkits are generic in nature while others are particularly suited for building specific types of prototype such as smart textiles [24], paper-based interfaces [59], or robots [36]; and some toolkits are developed for specific user groups such as educators and students [58].…”

“…With such a wide variety of electronics prototyping toolkits available, it can be challenging for those new to the area to understand the range of user experiences offered by electronics toolkits. Several articles have classified and reflected on electronics prototyping toolkits that are targeted towards primary and secondary school (also known as K-12) educational settings [21,42,58]. But the objectives for educators and students who are building electronic devices are very specific: in the education context the artifact being constructed is a side-effect of the process, which is instead optimized for the multi-faceted learning experience it delivers [57].…”