Keep FIRST in Michigan (FiM) from killing FIRST Lego League

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Do you have any data to support that FiM is "killing" FLL?

You have made emotional and anecdotal cases for disagreeing with the structure FiM has established. Do you have data to support this petition?

Namely, here are some basic data points to look at:

• Jr. FLL Team Growth Annually in FIM compared to Nationally
• FLL Team Growth Annually in FIM compared to Nationally
• FTC Team Growth Annually in FIM compared to Nationally
• FRC Team Growth Annually in FIM compared to Nationally

These statistics shouldn't be too hard to find for someone who knows where to look.

The results of this information could then be extrapolated to students impacted by the progression of FIRST programs in Michigan, and an informed conclusion as to the effectiveness of FiM's model could be better evaluated.

I'm very interested in hearing some data that supports or refutes the effectiveness of the FiM model.

-Mike

I love data as much as the next person on CD, but the key problem in this instance is that growth statistics will be heavily skewed by the state grant money that's been thrown at FRC and FTC the last two years.

In any case, the narrow eligibility for FTC has been a point of frustration for me for years now, and lowering the FLL cutoff age is also a disappointment. I feel like 5th graders won't be able to get the full depth of experience out of FLL at 10 years old with just one prior year of competition, especially given the breadth of strategy involved in both the robot game and the research project.