Franklyn Turbak and Robert Berg,
<b>Robotic Design Studio: Exploring the Big Ideas of Engineering in a Liberal Arts Environment.</b>
<i>Journal of Science Education and Technology</i>
11(3): 237--253, Sep. 2002. 
This is an expanded version of [TB01].<hr>In this paper we argue that it is important to introduce liberal arts
students to the essence of engineering.  Toward this end we have
developed Robotic Design Studio, a course where students learn how to
design, assemble, and program robots made out of LEGO parts, sensors,
motors, and small embedded computers.  The course has no prerequisites
and has attracted students from a wide range of backgrounds.  The
course culminates in a robot exhibition where students show off the
robots that they have designed and built.  These creative projects tie
together aspects of a surprisingly wide range of disciplines.  Robotic
Design Studio represents an alternative vision of how robot design can
be used to teach engineering in a way that is more inclusive and
provides more room for artistic expression than contest-centered
formats.  A web site with detailed descriptions of student projects
and all other course materials can be found at:
http://cs.wellesley.edu/rds.<hr>[<a href="RDS-JSET.pdf">PDF</a>]