Comic Books Help Students Understand Robotics Theory
Prof Creates Materials Using Newer Software

Cincinnati.com
By Cindy Kranz
February 24, 2008

University of Cincinnati professor Ernie Hall has discovered the joys of using comic books in the classroom - for learning - although the professor of robotics and computer science isn't opposed to having fun either.

Using a new software, Comic Book Creator, Hall has created comic books, finding them helpful in explaining technical points for college students in his robot control class.

"It just fits perfectly with our robotics activities," said Hall, director of the Center for Robotics at UC. "In there, I have a lot of theory. The theory of control is very sophisticated, but I have to show them enough about it to make it look easy as a piece of cake. Then, they'll go out and build their own robots."

Students in the class agreed that the comic books are a hit.

THE ENQUIRER/ERNEST COLEMAN

Professor Ernie Hall, who teaches in UC's College of Engineering, shows one of the comic books he created that help teach principles of mechanical engineering and robotics.
"It definitely spiced it up a lot," said Ben Stayton, 23, a senior in mechanical engineering. "It made it a lot more interesting."

Matt Abirached, also a 23-year-old senior mechanical engineering student, added, "It was different than our normal lecture, which is just seeing PowerPoint slides."

Comic books won't replace serious technical papers, Hall said, but he does plan to use that format more often to enhance his lectures.

"It's better than PowerPoint," he said. "It lets me spiff up my PowerPoint lectures. I have all my lectures on the computer with PowerPoint but now I see I really need to spiff them up with this, and then they would be a lot more effective, especially on hard, technical problems. I can lighten up the scene a little bit."

Hall started using Comic Book Creator when he entered Microsoft's Made in Express contest in 2006. The 12 finalists in that contest, including Hall, each had to do a computer blog. "I was just trying to think, 'How can I make it interesting?'''

Apparently, it helped. Hall won the contest and a $10,000 award, which he gave to UC to support the robotics program.

Students on the UC Robot Team also will use the software to create a design report and presentation accompanying the team's International Ground Vehicle Competition on June 8 in Michigan. It will be Hall's 16th year at the competition.

"We want to do something different to make our system unique," Hall said. "We try to do that with our components and everything, as well."

Students have designed an autonomous vehicle, appropriately christened, "Bearcat Cub." The team meets every Friday and enters one to two contests a year.

Team members also think the comic books will help young students connect with robotics.

"I think it will get them excited," said Scott Reynolds, 23, a graduate student in computer science. "It's not so much the equations. It's about having a good time."

Kovid Mathur, 25, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, said, "They can at least know from these comic books what all goes into a robot."

The robotics professor will introduce the software to middle and high school students involved in iSPACE's First Lego League competition.

What started out as a way to create fun comic books evolved into an unexpected educational use. Comic Book Creator is used in about 70 schools worldwide, said Mark Politi, media vice president for Planetwide, which makes the software.

Many teachers are using the software to teach literacy in different ways, Politi said, allowing kids to tell stories in comic form.

"We all grew up on graphic novels and comic strips, but most people have never been able to experience that ability to put up a word bubble and type in what they think people should say," Politi said.

Hall, who has taught 25 years at UC, said he is constantly looking for new technology.

"It really is a way to communicate to the younger generation," he said of the comic books.

"Since I'm getting older, it's something I need to work at all of the time. My students really understand video games. If I could capture the magic of video games and put that into education, gosh, I could beat MIT. Comic books are just a little step along that way.

"I'm just trying to keep up with the bright young students that we have. You need to keep their interest, and generally, we do that."