Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed
This comes up every year (and it will come up again and again) and to be honest it doesn't matter what we say, People will see what they want to see and if they believe that teams that have mentors who build their robots (or even assist in any way shape or form) are the root of evil.
Perhaps the only way to deal with it is to let them stew in their own juices and take them off your pick list. Sometimes the best lessons come with a swift kick to the rear.
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And what does that teach anyone? The teams that have the best performing robots are not necessarily the ones that do the most inspiration. Some of the most inspired (not excited) kids I have talked to are the ones that are on predominately student teams.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfred
With that out of the way, let me ask some questions:
1) If a team can't press a pinion gear onto a motor properly, but a mentor can take it to work and get the operation done quickly and effectively, should the mentor "sit on the sidelines"?
2) If a team has four hacksaws, 40 feet of pipe that needs cutting, and three available students, should that fourth hacksaw just sit on the shelf?
3) If a mentor's demonstration can save the team valuable time and resources, should a student tear it down and start it fresh?
I submit the answer is no to all of these. Balance is the answer.
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I agree that the answer to all of these is no. I think it is only okay for a mentor to work on the robot if every student is busy
and every interested student knows how to do the task in question. By definition, a mentor is a counselor or teacher, not a doer. A mentor should
never do something that could be done by a student, and if they do, they aren't really a mentor. The moment that a mentor takes an active role in the design, they have crossed a line. They can pass on a lot of knowledge, give guidelines for design, show and explain examples of good and bad designs, and offer critiques, but, again, if they take control, they are no longer a teacher or a counselor, and thus not a mentor.
Random side-note for some extra thought: many of the greatest innovation throughout history have come from people who have ignored standard practices and traditional thinking.