Programming Level 1

This course is designed for campers with no programming experience. The camp will use Scratch programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab. This will be the first introduction to object-based programming with a strong foundation of computer science principles and concepts. Students will be creating a “personally meaningful” programs by snapping the instruction blocks together where they do not have to worry about the syntax errors. Students will also be sharing their works and learning from each other since Scratch environment also promotes social learning.

Programming Level 2

This course is designed for campers with limited or no programming experience. The camp will use Alice programming language developed by Carnegie Mellon University. The Alice programming environment will give the students the first taste of the object-oriented programming experience. Students will be programming in a 3D object environment with tiles that corresponds to standard statements in programming languages such as Java and C++. This will be an introductory programming course where students do not have to worry about the syntax error and learn all the essential programming concepts and constructs of the standard programming languages.

Robotics Level 1

This course is designed for campers with no robotics experience. The camp will use Lego Mindstorms NXT robots to give the first introduction to robotics. The students will work with structurally sound building techniques, different types of sensors and motors, and basic robotics programming using the NXT software. The programming environment is icon-based drag-and-drop environment where students do not need to worry about the syntax error. Students will also learn the programming concepts such as loops and conditional statements.

Robotics Level 2

This course is designed for campers with some robotics experience. The camp will reinforce basic engineering skills with a strong emphasis on programming. The students will build advanced robots with custom programs using the NXT software. The students will be learning from the basic programming constructs such as loops and conditional statements to variables and different data types in an icon-based drag-and-drop programming environment where they do not have to worry about the syntax errors.