Quote:
Originally Posted by DampRobot
I don't deny that having a mentor be the "team tsar" detracts from student involvement and learning, but on some teams it's part of their culture. Frankly, I hardly find it surprising that high performing teams tend to have a mentor fill this role. It's extremely hard to find a student with enough dedication, let alone experience and political ability, to fill that role in a way a mentor could. If winning is a high team priority, a mentor almost needs to fill that role. (Now, before to all jump down my throat, winning isn't a bad goal...)
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I've been the "build master" for the past couple of years on my team. It really is very hard. For one there is a lot of work that needs to be done. What I've concluded is that it is really hard to build a competitive robot by a) 100% students and by b) 100% mentors. The best solution in my opinions is a bit of both. You really need an active mentor base to help train your students and you need a good group of students who are willing to take initiative. To any student trying to manage being the "build master" on their team, the biggest recommendation I can give you is to spread out the work as much as possible.