Adult coach?

[dtengineering]

In many school projects students are expected to do the majority of the design/build/leadership work. FRC, intentionally, takes a slightly different approach, that was perhaps best expressed by Tom who described it as the difference between being adults being role models vs. being teachers. It assumes that students can learn by watching, as well as by doing. This is a different approach from many other high school projects and it does take a while for those of us used to the "learn by doing" approach to appreciate the significance. So it is, perhaps, not surprising that some people will tend to have a philosophical bias in favour of advocating for student coaches simply because that is the model to which they are accustomed.

I recall in my first trip to a regional that I was shocked by the number of "bearded, beer-bellied, bifocaled" students working on robots that "could never have been designed by students". In my previous experience with student competitions adult involvement on the machines was frowned upon, and I carried some of that bias over to what I observed at the GTR.

So while it may be difficult for mentors who have been primarily involved with FIRST for many years to appreciate why some people bring a "students gotta DO it" attitude to FRC, it is just that that attitude is prevalent in many, many other competitions. Many people new to first arrive with that bias.

It doesn't mean it is right, but it is, I think, understandable. Patient, calm, explanations of the FIRST approach such as we have seen here are necessary to help newcomers to FIRST understand that this is an intentional difference and the reasons for it. Unlike many competitions (some of which specifically ban adults from the pits) FIRST welcomes a very broad spectrum of student/adult involvement. Obviously the extreme ends ("adults do it all, show robot to kids Feb. 22nd" and "kids and KOP thrown in room without supervision or guidance") are to be frowned upon as they fail to generate adult/student interaction, but aside from that... "live and let live"! And yes, we will have to make that explanation every year. Well... so long as the program keeps attracting new members, that is!

Jason

P.S. An interesting example of the exact opposite situation occurred recently when an FRC team entered a non-FRC competition that was specifically student-build oriented. I am told that the skills that the students had learned through working with their adult mentors in FRC led them to design and build a robot for that competition that was so far ahead of their competitors that there were mutterings of "they cheated... the teachers did it". The students were simultaneously offended, flattered, and somewhat shocked, I think, to discover that they had advanced so far, so quickly through their FRC involvement. Oh, yeah... they won handily, too, and their machine IS really cool. (Patrick, if you're reading this... post a photo and show that puppy off, man!)