There is little doubt that the use of robots in introductory classes is an effective way to spark an initial interest in Computer Science and recruit students into our classes, and subsequently recruit some of them as Computer Science majors. But when the semester is over, the vast majority of our students are unlikely to see robots in the classroom again until they take advanced courses in AI or Robotics. It is time for those of us who are proponents of the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science to start thinking seriously about how we are using robots in our classes, and how to sustain the interest and enthusiasm of our students as they move on to more traditional courses. While the focus of this paper is on the use of robots in Introductory Computer Science courses, my goal is to initiate a more general discussion on the use of any sort of cool new technology (tangible or not) into both undergraduate and K-12 education. These technologies successfully attract students to study subjects that we ourselves are deeply engaged in. But we need to discuss as a community what happens when our individual classes conclude and the rest of their studies commence.

As educators, we have high hopes for Electronic Tangibles (ETs), we expect ETs to: Interest more students in the study of computing Broaden students' views of computing Invite non-majors to learn something about the computing Attract students to computer science as a major Help students learn about particular ETs Attract students to our classes by incorporating a flashy ET in the course material Improve student understanding of some difficult topics Maintain student interest throughout the class However some important questions arise: Can we and should we extend these benefits throughout the K-20 curriculum? And if we can't, are we guilty of bait-and-switch?

Computer Science has a bad reputation among non-CS majors. This paper describes three assignments from a gentle introduction to programming course for non-majors that uses robots and simple game programming as a hook to get students interested in the subject. In each of the assignments presented, what might be considered a trivial twist to an instructor was a key factor in making an otherwise standard project into something that is more engaging.