help with FIRST paper

[RoboMom]

Besides the testimonials that Sarah mentioned (Rich Kressly put this together) go to the FIRST site and look at the evaluation summary which has some statistics, although they are old. FIRST is finishing a major evaluation of the programs, but I don't think the numbers are available yet for the public.

[dmurdz]

The two most essential things that I have learned this year in first:

1. We are a Robotics Team and the bonds and friendships we have made over our experiences are one of a kind.

2. FIRST is a ton of fun.

Good Luck on the Essay, by the way, great topic too!

-Dan Murdzia, Team #1027 THE Mechatronic Maniacs, West Springfield, MA

[wonsi88]

thanks for the help i will be posting my paper soon

[petek]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Besides the testimonials that Sarah mentioned (Rich Kressly put this together) go to the FIRST site and look at the evaluation summary which has some statistics, although they are old. FIRST is finishing a major evaluation of the programs, but I don't think the numbers are available yet for the public.

FIRST has now posted the report from Brandeis University on the FRC. From the Executive Summary:

In 2002, FIRST contracted with Brandeis University to conduct an evaluation of the FIRST Robotics Competition. The goal of the evaluation was to begin to address three basic questions:
- What is the impact of the FIRST Robotics Competition on program participants in terms of academic and career trajectories?
- What can we learn about the implementation of FIRST in schools, both in terms of better understanding program impact and identifying “best practices”?
- What kinds of impact has participation in FIRST had on participating schools and partnering organizations?

This is a veritable goldmine of information and attributable third-party data which shows that, however you measure it, FIRST is very successful. I've been working with this report for a talk I'll be giving later this month at MARM 2005 and found it to be a great resource for statistics and participant feedback nuggets. (Yes, I plan to post the talk as a whitepaper once it's done.)

[sudeepr71]

hi
i'm writing a paper too. i need help on a fitting comparison for FIRST. any ideas?


thanks
sudeep

[dhitchco]

Sudeep,

here's a thought for your paper. It's actually very difficult to directly compare FIRST to anything else. It's really very different than building a SoapBox Derby cart, very different than solving a business problem in a corporation, and very different from everyday life at school.

Think of it this way. This year's game was built upon four-sided tetrahedrons. Try the following four topics in your paper:

1) Teamwork. How was the FIRST experience like any other project in terms of building teamwork?
2) The actual task of building a robot in 6 weeks. How was the FIRST experience like anything else you have done with such constraints over time, money, and talent?
3) Professionalism. How has the FIRST experience helped you to become more professional and yet still have fun. That part gets lost in the real world much of the time.
4) Community. How has the experience of FIRST expanded your own network of people? Has your circle of life become larger through the FIRST experience?