Gregor,
The ideal plan is to have all three levels ( elementary, middle,high school) participating, a lot times it is not a choice but more a need. I have seen teams that done FRC, and because of different factors, they go to FTC for a couple years. Every case is different.
We have 12 communities we focus, 11 is U.S and 1 in Brazil. I hope to write a book someday on all the pros and cons, but for right now I am working on case study papers, I plan to present on our work with urban schools in St. Louis next year at Tennessee Technology University in Cookesville for 2013 ASEE Southeastern Section Annual Conference. I will upload all my papers on the CD.
Here is a video on BEST Robotics, we helped start a hub in Sedalia, MO. A team in Ladue, MO(well resourced community) started on BEST, now they do FIRST.
https://vimeo.com/30973757
In Lewis County, MO (rural area). We are currently doing cardboard robots, we hope to migrate to LEGO Mindstorm next year.
https://vimeo.com/45783923
Cheers,
Mark.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregor
What about the high school freshman who's first year is an "FRC year?" Then they step backwards? What about the middle school senior who ends with BEST? What about the elementary student in their last year who gets to draw a robot the year after competing in FLL?
Has your "current recommendation" been implemented anywhere? What are the pros and cons that have been recorded?
We all know that master gardeners have an amazing system going for them, but I'm not sure how well the ideas can be transferred to educational robotics.
[sarcasm]I propose an alternate system. Ants all live in a colony. We could be like ants. Enforce every team to collaborate, share resources, and share tools. This saves money for everyone![/sarcasm]
|