Building and Assessing a Hands-on Learning Experience for Robots in Business and Society

An undergraduate course is being developed for non-engineering majors to address the need for general competencies in ethics, science, and technology.Robotics is a field of science that is rapidly transforming our lives.Participants in the course will learn the history, mechanics and software, and applications of robots and learn to analyze the ethical, social, and economic concerns.The unique feature of the proposed course is that the participants will use hands-on assignments with a LEGO Mindstorm kit (interlocking plastic bricks, gears, computer) to explore these issues.For example, students will use the LEGOs to build a face for a robot that expresses emotions as an exercise to more deeply consider the use of robots as surrogates for human interaction.The course will be monitored and updated using formative and summative assessments including a modified "Views on Science-Technology-Society" (VOSTS) tool.Trial use of the VOSTS tool is described.