Engineering/Robotics class in High School

[DavidPierce]

I am the teacher/mentor for 1466. I am working on a proposal for a year-long credit class in engineering/robotics. My best resource would be other FRC teacher/mentors. I would like very specific advice, copies of syllabi, course materials, etc. If you are a teacher/mentor, please help. If you are a team member who has such a class at your school, please put me in touch with the relevant teacher.

Thanks!

[Joe G.]

I would suggest looking into project lead the way.

http://www.pltw.org/

[EricH]

You might want to get in touch with Amir, from team 1717. You might get a multi-year class set instead, but you just might be able to cram it into one year...

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by DavidPierce

... I would like very specific advice, copies of syllabi, course materials, etc.

Here is a link to the curriculum that FRC 931 developed a few years ago. They still use something pretty similar to this at Gateway Tech HS in St. Louis.

[Akash Rastogi]

Contact David Bodmer of Team 11 for information as well.

http://mort11.org/communications/contact-information

Our district has been running classes since around 2000-2001

[Lil' Lavery]

I'd suggest contacting Marty Rothwell of Team 612/Chantilly High School. Their program is a little bit unique due to the nature of the Fairfax County Public Schools academy program at CHS.

http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy...othwell_m.html

[mathking]

We (the Dublin City Schools) are going to start the Dublin Engineering Academy, using the Project Lead the Way model (the design curriculum) next year in cooperation with the Metro School (home of team 3324). It will be three periods in a row (a little over two hours) at the end of the day. The course will be team taught by two teachers, one from Dublin and one from Metro, with students from all the involved high schools. The students will get 3 high school credits and Ohio State credit for Engineering 181, Calc 151 and Calc 152. We don't have our syllabus done yet since I have not been to the training for Digital Electronics yet, but I would be happy to share/discuss what we're doing.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Contact David Bodmer of Team 11 for information as well.

http://mort11.org/communications/contact-information

Our district has been running classes since around 2000-2001

I 2nd this suggestion. Mount Olive's program is first class all the way.

-Brando

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by DavidPierce

I am the teacher/mentor for 1466. I am working on a proposal for a year-long credit class in engineering/robotics. My best resource would be other FRC teacher/mentors. I would like very specific advice, copies of syllabi, course materials, etc. If you are a teacher/mentor, please help. If you are a team member who has such a class at your school, please put me in touch with the relevant teacher.

Thanks!

This is the first time I came across this tread. Team 108 is an after school robotics program for Dillard High School. But during the school year the teacher has several robotics classes where he uses mindstorm, vex, and bo-bots. He also teaches animation and a game design class. If you haven't found what you needed, don't hesitate to send me a pm or an email. I will get you in touch with the the teacher from 108 and you can speak to him directly.

Also, I plan to start teaching at a private school starting this fall and I also teach at a summer youth program at Palm Beach State College. If you would like to talk to me about it, I would be more than happy to share my resources with you.

[EricLeifermann]

I went to this school in high school. It started out as an independent curriculum but now is a pltw school.

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/Tesla/

Talk to Sean Schuff, he is the master mind behind the school...

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

I went to this school in high school. It started out as an independent curriculum but now is a pltw school.

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/Tesla/

Talk to Sean Schuff, he is the master mind behind the school...

Interesting. I wonder how PLTW is working out for them, and what it's giving them that they couldn't do independently. I don't have enough experience with it, but I've heard some unfavorable things about it.

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Interesting. I wonder how PLTW is working out for them, and what it's giving them that they couldn't do independently. I don't have enough experience with it, but I've heard some unfavorable things about it.

It was only non PLTW for the 1st year. I believe the PLTW gave them more structure in possible courses to offer. I know that TESLA has grown in both enrolled students as well as classes offered since its inception in the 2002-2003 school year. TESLA started teaching math courses as well about 3 or 4 years ago that engage math in the context of engineering instead of solving the word problem in the book.

I haven't been involved with the school since I graduated in 2005 so the person to talk to would be Sean. He has a presence on CD and would definitely be open to answering a PM or an email.

[Lavapicker]

Pltw is very good but it has high upfront costs and a rigid curriculum. If you are more inventive or want to integrate robotics into the curriculum i suggest a hybrid program. I teach a class called directed studies in science within our engineerning academy that uses small problem solving projects, trebuchet building, career exploration, project presentations, spaghetti noodle bridges, underwater robotics and more. Something I learned is that students in this class aren't all going to be robotic students so it hasn't replaced our after school program. Someone explained it to me this way "the gym class isn't the football team"! Feel free to contact me if you want more specifics. Scienceguyme@yahoo.com

[Sean Schuff]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Interesting. I wonder how PLTW is working out for them, and what it's giving them that they couldn't do independently. I don't have enough experience with it, but I've heard some unfavorable things about it.

You aren't the first and you certainly won't be the last to hear unfavorable things about PLTW but that doesn't necessarily make it a universal truth. Everyone will have their opinion. Everyone will have different expectations and different issues.

As for me, as an educator, I appreciate the PLTW curriculum for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is the industry and educational support behind the program. A lot of well-known, reputable companies, colleges, and universities see a tremendous amount of value in the program or they wouldn't be the state affiliates or offer university credit for PLTW courses. The rigidity in the curriculum comes from the need for standard delivery and common assessment that allows those colleges and universities to offer credit. There is also the flexibility to add your own projects and activities as you see fit but the fundamental concepts will remain the same no matter what pre-engineering curriculum you look at.

An added bonus to PLTW is the integration of the VEX Robotics System into the curriculum. I know VEX is not a part of FIRST but robot building is robot building and automation is automation and engineering is engineering. It doesn't matter whose platform you use - the concepts are the same.

Our school looked at a few other programs for pre-engineering and PLTW was the best one available and the most established. It's hard to fight momentum. No matter what curriculum you look at, each one is going to have a few warts you'll need to look past or tweak for improvement. Yes, PLTW does have some up-front costs associated with it but if you do your homework, you'll find you may already have on hand the equipment associated with those up-front costs. Otherwise look into grant funding. The Kern Family Foundation does an AMAZING job of supporting PLTW in a four-state area of the Midwest.

As for a robotics curriculum, ours is based on providing students with the foundation for being on our robotics team so it deals with the specifics of being a member of the N.E.W. Apple Corps. Safety, wiring, machine use, where to find our stuff (we've got a balcony full of supplies), Inventor, game strategy development, robot integration, and programming are just a few of the things we cover. The class is lead by veteran members of the team with a teacher mentor serving as a guide. That last part provides some tremendous leadership and organizational opportunities for our veterans.

Hope this helps the conversation. I'd be more than happy to answer other questions via PM.

Thanks and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

[lcoreyl]

I am also looking to see what is out there for curriculum that directly relates to USFIRST. I will look at the posts here so far, but has anyone heard about 1717? Amir's kickoff mentioned something about being a model and having his integrated curriculum available, but I've had no luck finding it or contacting someone from the team. Anyone else hear of where we could find this or how to contact Amir Abo-Shaeer (or another good contact for 1717)?