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Department of Computer Science
Enterprise Computing

Treasure Hunt with Ozobots: Workshop at the Introductory Computer Science Workshop for Female High School Students

© Alexander van der Staay
On Friday, October 16, 2026, the Chair of Enterprise Computing offered a two-hour Ozobot workshop as part of the “Introductory Computer Science Workshop” for female high school students. During the workshop, the participants learned two very different ways to program the small robots.

Every year, the department of Computer Science invites female and diverse  high school students in grades 9 through 13 to TU Dortmund University for the “Schnupperuni Informatik” (Introductory Computer Science Workshop). This year, it took place on October 15 and 16. Over the two days, there were workshops, lectures, and informational sessions that provided insight into studying computer science. One of these workshops took place here at the Chair of Enterprise Computing.

At the start of the workshop, the chair gave a brief introduction. There was also an overview of the Information Systems program and how it differs from the other programs in the Department of Computer Science. This allowed the students to get a first impression of how computer science and business come together in this program.

Then it was time for some hands-on practice. In the first part of the workshop, the participants programmed the Ozobots using the Blockly visual programming environment and sent the robots on a treasure hunt. Through this hands-on activity, they learned fundamental programming concepts in a playful way: instructions, loops, and evaluating sensor data.

In the second part, the tablets were set aside, and programming was done exclusively with pen and paper. The Ozobots recognize color codes, which they follow as they travel along a drawn line. The task was to design the fastest possible race track along an 80-centimeter-long course. There were strict rules: Each color code could be used only once, but at the same time, a minimum number of codes had to be used on the track. So the students tinkered, tested, and refined their designs until the tracks were ready for the race. The final round ended in a close tie.

The workshop was led by Anne Stockey and Alexander van der Staay. We’d like to thank all the participants* for their enthusiasm and creative race tracks, and we’re already looking forward to the next introductory workshop!