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Originally Posted by Robototes2412
I found out that the arduous task to teaching not one, or two, but four freshmen to program Java for a FRC robot has been lumped onto my shoulders.
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It's easier to teach 4 than 1. They can help and compete against each other. Keeps the interest level up.
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What should I do to help them learn how everything on the robot works and how to program it?
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Find out what their individual learning styles are, and play to their strengths.
Recruit other mentors and experienced team members to "help them learn how everything on the robot works", especially the sensors and actuators.
For those willing and so gifted, have them read the FRC Java programming documentation - and have them help teach it to those who do not learn easily from reading.
Sun (now Oracle) has an excellent on-line Java tutorial.
Make sure they understand the "big picture" early on, so they have a mental framework on which to hang all the new stuff they will be learning. Explain the development environment and the target, and how they interact. Start will the example framework that comes with the Java installation and run through the steps of building and uploading and running it on a robot. Give them confidence that this is comprehensible and actually works.
Teach them, or find someone who can teach them, the rudimentary concepts of realtime embedded programming and concurrent execution.
Make sure they each have a laptop computer with FRC Java installed so they can continue learning at home.