Some 'Hard Fun' with Robots

Those smart techie folks at Carnegie Mellon University have put together a program aimed at boosting young students' interest in computer science with the hopes that they can convince more teenagers to enter scientific and technological careers.

The school launched on Tuesday an educational initiative, with $7 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop tools that allow middle and high school students to interact with robots to learn about computer science, science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- you know, CS-STEM. Carnegie Mellon officials hope the initiative can reverse what it calls "a significant national decline in the number of college students majoring in" the sciences.

The program is called Fostering Innovation through Robotics Exploration, or FIRE, as in fire up your interest in computer science. It will support the creation of programs such as "game-like virtual worlds where robot programs can be tested, as well as computerized tutors that teach mathematics and computer science in the context of robotics," according to a press release.

"The idea is that these programs must be rigorous, but fun -- what we call 'hard fun,'" said Robin Shoop, director of FIRE and of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Academy, an international leader in the development of K-12 robotic education curriculum. "Robots provide a great teaching tool. Kids like robots and are innately curious about how they work and how they make decisions. Finding answers to their questions is fun, but technically challenging, and that makes robotics uniquely suited to teaching students computer science, engineering and mathematics."