[NCSG Educators] Teachers: Bring Robotics into the Classroom!

[Tom Knott]

Robotics Summer Workshop for STEM Teachers of Grades 6-12

A one-week summer workshop for twelve Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) teachers from grades 6-12 will be offered at the
University of North Carolina Pembroke from June 23-27, 2008, with 2
follow-up sessions during the academic year. The workshop, which is
sponsored by NASA and the North Carolina Space Grant Consortium, will be
on "Bringing Robotics into the Classroom". Each teacher will receive a
$400 stipend and a $300 Lego Robotic kit for their school.

The workshop will have two major purposes:

1.To introduce teachers to the use of Robotics in the classroom as a way
to rekindle in students the sense of curiosity and enjoyment in learning
about how the physical world works.
2.To educate teachers on how to make science and technology accessible to
the general student population by using robots as a means for students to
apply knowledge to something which is both challenging and fun.

Robotics will be used to show how scientific knowledge is applied to the
"real world". Teachers will first learn how the basic components of a
robot operate and then learn to join them together to form a robot. The
class strategy is to learn science by "actually doing science". Teachers
will use the LEGO MINDSTORMS robot kit to design, build, test and modify
their own robots. In the Labs participants as teams will be challenged to
construct robots that will perform tasks such as run an obstacle course or
fetch an object or follow a light.

The major instructional components of this project will be a summer
workshop designed to:

1.Increase teacher knowledge and understanding of robotics in teaching
science and mathematics.
2.Construct robots from Lego MindStorms kits.
3.Use canned software which is supplied in the kits.
4.Install and integrate sensors into the robot.
5.Integrate robotics into the classroom and to create teams of students to
compete in events.

The workshop will meet for six hours each weekday over a one-week period
(30 contact hours) with hands-on robotic building sessions as an integral
part of the program. A follow-up program that will be conducted during the
following academic year will support this intensive summer workshop.
Please contact Jose’ D’Arruda for information and application.

Dr. Jose’ D’Arruda
Department of Physics
University of North Carolina Pembroke
Pembroke, NC 28372
910-521-6423
jose at uncp.edu




-- 
Tom Knott
Technology and Communications Specialist
NC Space Grant