Lego Robotics: STEM Sport of the Mind

Proceeding of the 9th International GAP Summit Scientific Research Congress. Held from 1-3 July 2022 at Adiyaman, TURKEY, 2022

At its most basic level, STEM education entails instructing students in four distinct disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (collectively shortened as STEM). Rather than training students in just one of these areas, STEM incorporates all four in an interdisciplinary and applied approach to better prepare students for careers and real-world applications. STEM-based courses are a great way to help students learn robotics, and robotics helps students learn STEM, visa-versa. Robotics and STEM are the keys to a great future for students. They have become an important part of the world we live in. Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering, and technology that produces machines, called robots, that substitute for (or replicate) human actions. "Educational robotics" is a pedagogical robotics discipline that is designed to introduce students to robotics and programming interactively from a young age. Thus, robotics is used to teach problem solving, programming, design, physics, math, and even music and art to students at all levels of their education. This instruction is guided by a learning theory that foresees that children's learning can be enhanced when they are involved in activities that allow them to construct artifacts. This theory, called constructionism, is connected with experiential and constructivist learning. This study found that most developed countries have reaped the benefits of educational robotics with the help of its resources and kits. The popularity of robotic kits and resources in education is significantly higher in developed countries, where school systems have undergone an educational revolution in the past decades (typically Western Europe and North America), while the kits are still on the edge of breaking into the market of developing countries (mostly in South Asia and Africa), which still prefer traditional educational methods. We present several resources that can help novice teachers develop an enhanced skill for implementing robotics into their instructions effectively. Some of these resources emphasise the relevance of LEGO education in allowing students to move from simple explorations to increasingly complex real-world challenges as they progress through different grades. LEGO provides a scalable learning system based on the familiar LEGO brick that is intuitive, inclusive, and adaptable. It offers a scalable design, making it easy to implement at the classroom, school, or district level. LEGO Education offers personalised professional development designed to inspire and engage as you learn, practice, and master competencies to facilitate playful, hands-on STEAM learning for maximum impact on student outcomes. It inspires teachers to learn, practice, and master competencies so they can facilitate hands-on, playful STEAM learning with their students.

Proceeding of the 9th International GAP Summit Scientific Research Congress. Held from 1-3 July 2022 at Adiyaman, TURKEY. ISBN: 978-625-8323-36-8.Published by IKSAD Publications 2022, 2022

At its most basic level, STEM education entails instructing students in four distinct disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (collectively shortened as STEM). Rather than training students in just one of these areas, STEM incorporates all four in an interdisciplinary and applied approach to better prepare students for careers and real-world applications. STEM-based courses are a great way to help students learn robotics, and robotics helps students learn STEM, visa-versa. Robotics and STEM are the keys to a great future for students. They have become an important part of the world we live in. Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering, and technology that produces machines, called robots, that substitute for (or replicate) human actions. "Educational robotics" is a pedagogical robotics discipline that is designed to introduce students to robotics and programming interactively from a young age. Thus, robotics is used to teach problem solving, programming, design, physics, math, and even music and art to students at all levels of their education. This instruction is guided by a learning theory that foresees that children's learning can be enhanced when they are involved in activities that allow them to construct artifacts. This theory, called constructionism, is connected with experiential and constructivist learning. This study found that most developed countries have reaped the benefits of educational robotics with the help of its resources and kits. The popularity of robotic kits and resources in education is significantly higher in developed countries, where school systems have undergone an educational revolution in the past decades (typically Western Europe and North America), while the kits are still on the edge of breaking into the market of developing countries (mostly in South Asia and Africa), which still prefer traditional educational methods. We present several resources that can help novice teachers develop an enhanced skill for implementing robotics into their instructions effectively. Some of these resources emphasise the relevance of LEGO education in allowing students to move from simple explorations to increasingly complex real-world challenges as they progress through different grades. LEGO provides a scalable learning system based on the familiar LEGO brick that is intuitive, inclusive, and adaptable. It offers a scalable design, making it easy to implement at the classroom, school, or district level. LEGO Education offers personalised professional development designed to inspire and engage as you learn, practice, and master competencies to facilitate playful, hands-on STEAM learning for maximum impact on student outcomes. It inspires teachers to learn, practice, and master competencies so they can facilitate hands-on, playful STEAM learning with their students.

2008

The LEGO ® NXT robotics system is being used as a tool for engaging middle and high school students in brief, single-session workshops as a means of conveying opportunities in engineering education and as a "conversation starter". The authors are beginning their second year of using the LEGO system in this context. Anecdotally, students, teachers, and school administrators, alike, are very enthusiastic about the potential for this robotics system to significantly impact learning in their schools. The program objectives have grown beyond the initial focus of using this robotics system as a recruiting tool. A broader objective now focuses on obtaining funding to place these robotics kits in strategic schools throughout Mississippi. Through this effort, the authors seek to establish relationships with teachers, teaming with them to make curricular enhancements-incorporating (or strengthening) project-based learning as a means of preparing students for pursuing STEM majors and ultimately STEM-related careers.

Proceedings of the …, 2001

Students learn the most about robotics when they have hands-on opportunities to build and program. At the college level there are a myriad of options, in terms of materials, that can be used in a robotics course. Two highly successful courses, offered at the freshmen and senior level, have been taught at Tufts University using LEGO elements, the RCX (the programmable LEGO brick), and ROBOLAB, a graphical programming language based on LabVIEW. The limitations of the RCX (3 inputs and 3 outputs) do provide some restrictions in terms of robot capabilities. However, the benefit of rapid prototyping and ease of programming using ROBOLAB permits students to address a wider range of issues and topics. The freshmen robotics course allows students to get excited about engineering and learn about robotics with no previous building or programming experience. Freshmen were able to use the icon based software with little or no instruction and build and program robots in their dorm rooms. Freshmen projects ranged from robotic animals to a search and rescue for the lost "Mars Polar Lander". At the senior level, students were able to address distributive intelligence issues with multiple robots ranging from determining relative positioning to sharing acquired data. This paper will present theses two courses and the difficulties and successes associated with using the LEGO materials and the ROBOLAB software.

—It is increasingly important that next generation of students must acquire problem solving, critical thinking and collaborative skills to succeed in their career aspirations in the 21st century. Technology plays a crucial role in assimilation of these skills. Among flourishing arrays of technologies, robotics provides challenges and opportunities to the learners in developing innovative ideas, disruptive thinking and higher order learning skills. In recognizing these potentials, educational authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) undertook an important step in distributing Lego Mindstorms kits to schools to encourage teachers to use in their teaching. This paper explores the educational use of robotics in schools and how teachers can integrate this new technology into the curriculum. The paper also suggests the effective strategies in using robotics as an educational tool and how it will impact students' interests in STEM related subjects. Some recommendations to enhance learning activities in the classrooms are provided.