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Originally Posted by Jim E
I'm all for teaching the students my knowledge of robotics. At every opportunity I try to get them to do the dirty work but they have to be taught to do the job correct. This requires hands-on from the mentors.
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Does it? In school did the teachers right your reports, or did they just tell you how and give general rules?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E
Our robot designs have consistently been from the engineering work performed by mentors, and consistently built by both students and mentors. Asking students to figure out complex equations for 'WORK' may be asking a bit much given their school schedules and knowledge. They are right there though when it comes to fabricating parts, wiring electronics, and programming the robot.
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Design is my favorite part! I couldn't imagine having that taken away because the adults believe me incapable of doing it. Not to mention one of the qualities most sought after in America is creativity and design. We keep out-sourcing our fabrication but our think teams stay here. I also don't like the idea of being "right there" it seems like you are just doing it for them again, maybe some times telling them what to do. Look at my sig for an idea of what I'm saying
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E
Some may see mentors in the pits fixing problems, but more often than not, mentors are trying to determine the root cause of failure to derive efficient repairs to prevent future failures.
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2/2 It seems that your mentors keep taking my favorite jobs! Can you not trust the students to figure it out? Or at least bounce ideas off your students so they understand how thought process works in speed engineering. Were not as dumb as you may think, chances are we think of something you guys don't
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E
There is nothing in FIRST that mandates that students are responsible for robot designs. This is a TEAM effort. To expect a HS student to perform complex mathematic scenarios taught in Post-HS courses is ludicrous. The Team mentors should do everything possible to explain design decisions to the students and teach them the concepts of the design.
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No, To define a HS students mental capacity based on his/her age then set limits for him/her is ludicrous. Students only designed our robot this year (hurdler) with nothing more then trig functions, some work/energy formulas I learned in Honors physics, and deductive reasoning no where outside the reach of any HS student especially since we have no seniors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E
Team Mentors should keep in mind that we are there to inspire the students, not dictate to them. Share you calculations and concerns with the team members. One of the students may just blindside you with brilliance when it comes to a simple solution.
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How I would rewrite this sentance
Team students should keep in mind that we are there to learn from the Mentors, not dictate to them. Share you calculations and concerns with the team mentors. One of the mentors may just blindside you with brilliance when it comes to a simple solution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E
My personal observations are the teams that consistently win regionals are the teams with the best organizational structure. They all take their roles on the team serious and specialize in certain feilds of study.
Lastly, Mentors like to play with robots too. We willingly give up our free time to perform a service to the team. All we ask in return is a little play time  |
You can have your play time, after us. You've had your education let us have ours. Jim I'm sorry to be so frank but pretty much everything you described in the way you team is run is what I work so hard to keep from happening to my team.