sanddrag
29-08-2012, 20:26
My school district is in the process of spreading robotics to more schools (with the ultimate goal of all schools) at all levels, elementary (some K-5, some K-6), middle school (some 6-8, some 7-8) and high school (9-12). It's not yet clear if it will be during the school day, or extracurricular. It may vary between school sites. We'd ultimately like to get everybody on the same page (hardware and curriculum), so that we can hold intra-district competitions; one for the elementary level and one for the middle school level. We're trying to structure exactly how to sequence it, so that students are advancing in robotics as they move through each stage of schooling.
It's clear that Lego is the best platform at the elementary school level. Two of the district's high schools have an FRC team. Additionally, I also teach a primarily Vex-based robotics class at the high school level (10-12). I am also currently teaching a short 3-week module on simple graphical programming of autonomous robots in a 9th grade class (all 9th grade students in the school actually. Everyone takes this class).
The real hangup is in which direction to go at the middle school (grades 6,7, 8) level. Some are using Lego NXT platform, but what's the difference from what is being done at the elementary school level? The thought of Vex at the middle school is nice, and naturally leads into FRC at the high school level, but we still have high-school level robotics classes that are not associated with FRC, so where does that leave them? It's not exactly practical to run an FRC team as only a during-the-school-day class.
We want to see students start early and follow a clear progression/advancement of skills in learning robotics from elementary, to middle, to high school.
I'd like to hear any thoughts or opinions on how it should be done. The tricky part is going to be starting programs at places that have never had them, but still keeping them challenging enough for when they start receiving students with previous robotics experience from the lower grade levels. My worry is this reaching a state where we're teaching it to a majority of kids with no prior experience, but start getting increasing numbers of students with past experience who feel like they're doing the same things over again.
It may ultimately all boil down to budget and I may not be left much choice in the matter in the end, but while I do have some sort of say in it, I thought I'd poll the CD community and see what is being done in other school districts.
It's clear that Lego is the best platform at the elementary school level. Two of the district's high schools have an FRC team. Additionally, I also teach a primarily Vex-based robotics class at the high school level (10-12). I am also currently teaching a short 3-week module on simple graphical programming of autonomous robots in a 9th grade class (all 9th grade students in the school actually. Everyone takes this class).
The real hangup is in which direction to go at the middle school (grades 6,7, 8) level. Some are using Lego NXT platform, but what's the difference from what is being done at the elementary school level? The thought of Vex at the middle school is nice, and naturally leads into FRC at the high school level, but we still have high-school level robotics classes that are not associated with FRC, so where does that leave them? It's not exactly practical to run an FRC team as only a during-the-school-day class.
We want to see students start early and follow a clear progression/advancement of skills in learning robotics from elementary, to middle, to high school.
I'd like to hear any thoughts or opinions on how it should be done. The tricky part is going to be starting programs at places that have never had them, but still keeping them challenging enough for when they start receiving students with previous robotics experience from the lower grade levels. My worry is this reaching a state where we're teaching it to a majority of kids with no prior experience, but start getting increasing numbers of students with past experience who feel like they're doing the same things over again.
It may ultimately all boil down to budget and I may not be left much choice in the matter in the end, but while I do have some sort of say in it, I thought I'd poll the CD community and see what is being done in other school districts.