Teaching the Sonification of Snake Robot Movement Using Project-Based Learning Activities

Abstract

Sonification is a method to represent data and convey information using sound. Just like the Geiger counter, humans can use sound to better understand complex sets of data that are either unable to be seen or visualized or that are too complex to understand with visual displays. Sonification research and learning have been predominantly conducted at the higher education level. However, as STEM-related programs and activities continue to be increasingly important in secondary school education, it is possible to expose high school students to university-level research through project-based learning (PBL) activities in the classroom. Using a physical snake robot prototype that was built and programmed with low-cost materials, high school students are introduced to the field of sonification and its applications to snake robots. This dissertation demonstrates the feasibility of using project-based learning to teach university level research in secondary school education. Using the sonification of snake robot movement, students learned advanced topics in robotics with the goal of realizing that university level research is accessible and understandable through PBL. This paper will begin by discussing the concept of human-robot interaction, introduce sonification, and give a brief overview of project-based learning. A detailed discussion of how the snake robot prototype was constructed and programmed, an in-depth explanation of the sonification algorithm that was used, and how sonification was taught in a high school classroom using PBL is presented along with student feedback and suggestions for future work.