Lab 9: Robots

[lmock]

Please comment below to leave us your lab reviews! Remember, please follow this format:

Your Name:

Overview of Lab Comments: i.e. Was this lab good or bad? Too fast? Too Slow? Does it need something new?

For specific issues: (you should copy this section as many times as necessary)
Page Link:
Type of Issue: i.e. (code) bug, grammar, typo, lack of clarity, etc
Severity: i.e. "prevents students from continuing", "minor inconvenience", etc
Comments: Description of the problem, what can be done to fix it, etc.

[rxia752]

Rowena Xia

Overview of Lab: This lab is well-constructed and fairly straight forward. It's also a very interactive lab which is good for the attention spans of the students, and to make sure the students get involved. I think it would be nice to include a section that allows the students to just freely explore what the finch can do, but other than that there is no real problem or suggestion for this particular lab. The pace is good, the length is good and very doable in the time students have for lab. I didn't find any technical issues or typos or anything on those lines, and there were not any real clarity issues.

Specific Issues: I really couldn't find any.

[333lisajin]

Your Name:Lisa Jin

Overview of Lab Comments: This lab is really really fun and I think it is something really useful as well. Students can take advantage of this little robot and use it in their project afterwards. This is a good chapter to test what students have learned so far as well. For specific issues: N/A

[Frankgoji]

Franklin Lee:

Overview of Lab Comments: A nice, short lab, which allows for exploration for what commands can be given to the Finch and what sensors can return to the user. It also gives lots of space for the Finch showdown in lab, which was always tons of fun. One thing I think could have been elaborated was the fact that all of the blocks that were given to the students (like the finch's move block) were made in Snap as well, so they can click edit block in order to see the inner workings of how the block actually works.

I couldn't really find a specific problem that warranted a page link, etc., since the lab is short and is less conceptual than the other labs.

[judyworkman]

Judy Workman

Overview of Lab Comments: This lab is concise and to the point. It does not involve nearly as much work as some of the other labs. The TA should pause the students to make sure that this hands on lab is clearly understood by everyone. This is a really fun lab and very interesting as well. Perhaps, it could include some additional examples or problems. For specific issues: Page Link:https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/finch-simon-says.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassignment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=4 Type of Issue: lack of clarity Severity: minor inconvenience Comments: The connection to Bop It and Simon Says could be explained a little bit more clearly.

[Hungukaroo]

Elizabeth Steger

A really fun lab very unique from the rest this semester, but a nice introduction to how software can interact with hardware. It would be good to encourage the students to look at the code for the custom blocks in the scripts we give them rather then just understanding the abstraction. Overall a really nice lab that I have no complaints for.

[ArielleSpencer]

Arielle Spencer

Overview of Lab Comments: By far my favorite lab! Fun, short, and a nice break from just trying to put together the blocks. I don't really have any problems with this lab. Maybe just have them look at some of the Finch blocks so they can better understand how they were put together but overall great!

[msilva926]

Your Name: Melanie Silva

Overview of Lab Comments: Overall the lab was good and had clear instructions on what to do. It is not long or work intensive at all. Favorite CS10 lab!

For specific issues: Couldn't find any

[maknegana]

Your Name: Michelle Han

Overview of Lab Comments: The lab was concise and easy to follow. I don't see any issues that need to be addressed. I particularly like this lab because it allows people to see beyond their blocks and just see a new aspect of programming.This lab is a good introduction to the Finches, as a lot of people used them for their last projects. Perhaps mention that the Finches can be used for the final projects so people are aware of this during the lab.

[finnhowell]

Your Name: Fionnuala Howell

Overview of Lab Comments: This lab is a good way to show the applications of coding. It allows students to see that they can change the code in order to change what the Finch does, and effect something that is not just on the screen. The finch showdown is a fun competition. This lab is a good way for students to interact with each other and a nice break as the course begins to pile up. It is easy to follow with clear instructions.

[amrutayel]

Your Name: Amruta Yelamanchili

Overview of Lab Comments: This lab is always a lot of fun! Students might get stuck on making all of the exercises perfect and making modifications to things. Maybe it should be noted at the beginning that this lab will culminate in the finch fight, so they should be paying attention to things in the lab that would help with that. Also links to past student projects using finches, or just examples of what they did and ho they used the finch might be inspiring to students.

For specific issues: Page Link: https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/finch-gestural-programmer.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassingment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=5 Type of Issue: lack of clarity Severity: minor Comments: It’s unclear what the last paragraph is asking students to do. Does it want students to be able to change the speeds while they are recording or when the finch is moving, or does it just want one speed specified at the beginning? In that case, no “when pressed” blocks would be necessary.

[yifatamir]

Yifat Amir

Overview of Lab Comments: This lab is super fun and interactive, and in my opinion it must be one of the most memorable times of CS10, too!

Page Link: https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/finch-simon-says.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassingment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=4 Type of Issue: lack of clarity Severity: adds unnecessary challenge Comments: The directions say "Give the user a score, or record their longest streak of correct responses." and I think this is unclear. It could be improved by specifying how the program should convey this information to the user: using the snap screen or the finch, and if the finch then through what means (using Say This or something else?). Otherwise the student may spend unnecessary time trying to convey the score in a more creative yet challenging method (which may not be the point of this exercise...)

[strollinghome]

Carlos Flores

The lab was well done. I'm not a huge fan of this specific lab but it does a great job of showing how snap can interact with external devices. I think we could incorporate the video that Gerald showed for the drawing board.

I didn't any pressing or even minor issues.

[william0cheung]

William Cheung

Overview: Finch lab is great. I loved being able to play with the controls. It is easily understandable. This is a fun lab and students shouldn't have trouble completing this lab, as there is not much code to be written. I did not find any pressing issues in this lab.

[erikdahlquist]

Erik Dahlquist

It's so random, but it's fun and a nice break from intellectually strenuous work (especially right before the Quest). It is definitely a shorter lab, but that's good/intentional because it leaves time for robot battles. It might be fun to have a slide or two at the end discussing the upcoming battle, providing basic strategies Snap code can help with and encouraging students to make their own strategies as well. Like figuring out what acceleration strategy might be most beneficial, weighing responsiveness against ease of control. Or encouraging working war cries in the Finch program. That's important.

Specific issues: Link: https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/finch-simon-says.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassingment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=4 Type of Issue: Unclear Prompt Severity: Moderate Comments: I'm confused. For Finchy Simon Says, two possible prompts for students to incorporate are a way to report a score at the end and a way to have the Finch provide feedback. But the starter file we provide already includes these...

No more issues! Solid work

[valenzuelav94]

Your Name: Vanessa Valenzuela

Overview of Lab Comments: Overall I found this lab to be engaging as it allows students to see how programming can be extended on finches with their own codes. The lab is very easy to follow through, everything was laid out with clear instructions (beginning with the finch's capabilities to offering a video for additional visual guide). By allowing students to explore finches independently, they can discover the limitations of programming their own code. In addition to that they can also recognize the value in expanding their creativity.

Specific Issue(s):

Link: https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/finch-pong.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassignment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=6

Severity: Minor

Comment(s): I have never heard of pong so not having that background knowledge threw me off a bit as I was going through this lab. Perhaps there could be other alternatives to this portion of the lab because limiting it to only one can be a bit mundane, but that's mereley a suggestion of mine. The overall structure of this lab is condense and straightforward.

[mfujimoto]

Your Name: Mason Fujimoto

Overview of Lab Comments: A fun and interesting lab. I have no complaints with it. One suggestion would be to consider scheduling this lab near a holiday or a time where students are likely to be absent (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc) or even working this into the first day of section or lab as I feel this is one lab that students don't need in order to continue their understanding of the course. I also would like to see some sort of example project which uses the finch as a controller as that is often talked about but few students chose to explore it.

[adambrown13]

Name: Adam Brown

Overview of Lab Comments: Just good fun. I can't really say anything about the content outside of the physical lab itself, but as a whole, super smooth all around. It's super interactive, low stress, and just a good time. Also, I think it's a good placement after a lot of heavy material, because it allows the students some time to really reflect on what they've been doing.

[jeffz6]

Your Name: Jeffrey Zhang

Overview of Lab Comments: Looks really fun. I'm not really sure what else to say about it, I missed this lab, and I've never had a chance to play with the Finch robots :(

[carenthomas]

Your Name: Caren Thomas

Overview of Lab Comments: Students really enjoyed this lab, and the relatively slower pacing was a good break from the hours that they usually spend on lab. I think students especially enjoy the freedom that this lab gives them to explore snap, and there's not much I would change.

Page Link: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/labs/cur/programming/robots/better-finch-remote.html?topic=berkeley_bjc%2Frobots%2Frobots.topic&novideo=true&noreading=true&noassignment=true&course=cs10_fa14.html&step=3 Type of Issue: Lack of Clarity Severity: i.e. Cause of confusion, Medium Priority Comments: The lab asked students to play around with changing the acceleration which caused mass confusion during my lab section - there was no explicit 'change acceleration' block so students were extremely confused... maybe more explicit instructions would be helpful here.

[MicBrain]

Rafayel Mkrtchyan

Overview of Lab Comments: This was the most interesting lab for students. I remember that a lot of students were involved and interested about the content. Another importance of this lab is that we show how Snap can work with different devices. Students also enjoyed the fact that they could change the provided code and develop the program.