Advancing via MUzECS Platform
Background
MUzECS is a platform that engages high school students to learn how to program through a block based programming language and music. Students are presented with a microcontroller unit that houses an ultrasonic distance sensor, four buttons, LED lights, and a speaker. This allows students to program a mini-piano, a theremin, their own autonomous songs, and many other things. Students achieve this by using a custom block-based programming language. MUzECS has three distinct versions, one that runs locally on all major platforms, another version that runs on a remote server through a Chrome App, and a Chrome App version that runs locally. The last version is currently in progress.
This project currently has several competitors. However, many of the competitors either require constant online connectivity or are very expensive. Therefore, this project is well-suited for high schools with low resources and high schools that do not have constant online connectivity.
Potential Research Questions
Although this project has been very successful and has been distributed among many schools, it can still be improved. These are some potential problems we can address:
- The MUzECS block based dialect is still not standardized. What would be the most effective block based dialect for high school students to learn how to program and to make an easy transition to text based programming?
- Right now, students have a very basic curriculum. How could we further the curriculum for advanced courses?
- What should be the file format for the block based dialect?
