April Blog

Oh god all mighty these pancakes 

http://issuu.com/ipolyroboticsteam/docs/final_product_lineup

The menu lineup of the robotics new venture into the I-Fest Scene. As I-Fest closely approaches, I along with the robotics team have begun our plans to fund raise for next years robotics team. Most of the team is comprised of seniors so we will be leaving but we have recruited a steady following of loyal techies that hope to stand by and work with

 

The robotics team has also had problems recently with our previous mentor Joey Uken who started the team. In a Steve Jobesque fashion, we have decided to oust him from the club for being lazy and generally uncaring about this team. We have since associated with the school and now were hoping to stride forward without him. 

We are in a down time without any need to build a robot but we plan to build together a field for ifest.

Blog 20: Exit Interview

Content:


(1) What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer and why?

How best can an organization like FIRST keep students K-12 interested in STEM?

1. FIRST can increase the amount of students helped by their STEM programs through facilitating community outreach events.
2. STEM programs in succession, run by FIRST is an effective way to keep students K-12 interested in STEM.
3. Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration and Communication, the 4 C's are implemented in FIRST programs to promote better STEM interest.

Best answer: Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration and Communication, the 4 C's are implemented in FIRST programs to promote better STEM interest.

Why: Because: In a study done in 2004 by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board, a survey of 99 middle school-aged girls and boys showed that when taught STEM topics in a lesson based format, the
study saw a 8% loss of interest in STEM career choice after a full year of this type of curriculum. In comparison, STEM career interest saw a 3% interest increase after a full year of project based curriculum

The three answers i came up with, community outreach, successive program structure, and the 4 C's create an elaborate 3 step process that fosters STEM interest. The first answer, community outreach is the first step in the process because it is where most students begin their career in FIRST robotics. My second answer, is the progression of programs and that refers to the fact that because these programs work in succession, they are able to facilitate better retention in STEM programs. My final answer is the best one because all of my other answers refer to how one these students are involved in a "STEM program." My third answer explains how these programs work to make students more interested in STEM. It is the meat of the "programs" that the first two answers refers to.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
I changed my EQ about 1/4 of the way through the year at the beginning of the answer 1 phase. I desperately rushed to find some research for the beginning of my answer one. I did the 3 research notes every week but i didn't feel like i needed to do more until we had to present our answer two and i found that i was inadequately prepared overall. Research was less and less about reading about random robotics articles and i began to get really focused. One of the very first sources that i read that had actual relevant information i could begin to use was Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in STEM Undergraduate Education by James Fairweather. The report he wrote focused a lot on the education process and how it affects the retention rates of first year undergraduate STEM students. It really got me thinking about how education affects students and their perception of STEM. I of course looked toward the teaching methods that are used at I-Poly and found several similarities between our group based, all-accountability approach and FIRST robotics's. Then of course for my 3rd interview, i asked my interviewee, Mr. Richard Sisk, a Robokong programming mentor with a FIRST robotics team what he believed kept the students interested in these STEM programs. He said to me, "It was the competitive spirit of FIRST robotics and how people begin in teams without much knowledge of anything and they're given a hard project to work on and their team depends on them to finish it and finish it correctly." He also said to me, "the team environment really helps kids grow and become more mature. I've seen many freshmen come to us, shy and not at all certain about themselves and by the time they're seniors, they're running the team and throwing out creative ideas and making a name for themselves in the scene." After my interview and a review of the I-Poly curriculum, i began research on a name for what we do at I-Poly. A term that kept popping up was project based learning but i figured that it was too simple. I restarted and began with another search that was simply, "STEM teaching" and i found this article by the a small site called Littleweb that featured an article titled, "10 essential STEM teaching practices" and it mentioned the 4 C's and i felt like i had finally found what i was looking for. The Littleweb source was not as credible as i wanted it to be so i went on the Cal Poly Databases and i researched a bit more about the 4 C's and i decided that it was a solid answer as to why FIRST robotics programs were so effective at retaining STEM interest.

(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
My most significant problem i faced was the change in my EQ. I believed that my EQ was too subjective and did not have enough objectivity for me to answer with straight answers. My first EQ was What is the best way to win in a FIRST Tech Challenge? My current EQ is How best can an organization like FIRST keep students K-12 interested in STEM? Great i solved one problem but then i had another.

My next problem came with answer one. I had just changed my EQ and so i had to think of and research a new answer as soon as possible. I had 2 weeks before we had to present and so i had to think of answers quick. So i started doing research. I started off learning more about STEM first using articles like, Inspiring the next Generation of Female Engineers: Debbie Sterling at TEDxPSU on youtube, this video had me thinking about how it is that people really get into STEM programs and how they begin to get into the sciences. Around this same time, my mentorship with FTC Team 7258, the iPoly team realized that to qualify for a certain award we would have to do a community outreach event to entice more students to join our team. Just like that, i had my answer. I began to research how effective community outreach was at reaching a large amount of people and my interviewee Richard Sisk also helped by answering questions about how him and his team do community outreach.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?



Fairweather, James. Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Undergraduate Education. N.p.: Michigan State Univeristy, n.d. Print
this source by James Fairweather began as the basis for the rest of my research. I research a bit about Mr. Fairweather and he has authored several reports about the effect of certain programs in undergraduate studies that affect STEM. He gets deep into the psychology of how STEM interest is created through programs and teaching. His in depth and thorough research and citations helped me find sources such as the AMA 2010 critical skills survey. He also helped me create my Answer 3, through a little research of my own and because of the way he approaches his research, it helped me find the right articles to prove the points i wanted to such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Education for Global Leadership by the united to help me prove that STEM teaching is really underfunded in America. 


Griffith,Donald Sanford,,Jr. (2005). FIRST robotics as a model for experiential problem-based learning: A comparison of student attitudes and interests in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. (3170164, Clemson University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 174-174 p

This is a recent article that i had found. It analyzes the effect of FIRST robotics on attitudes and interests in STEM. It really provided many facts and statistics for use in my third answer which involves the program. It also has an in depth background section that thoroughly details why he believed FIRST robotics was pertinent to furthering STEM interest in America. It helped me formulate more ideas on what to research including Science- and engineering-related career decision-making, bright adolescent girls and the impact of an intervention program by Ellis Kalton. 

Be prepared with evidence and specific examples to support any response. It is also significant to cite sources as you explain.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Statement saying: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

I, Brendan Trang, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component

Taylor Halsey
Rock'n'Roll Robots FTC Team 25 Mentor
taylor@rocknrollrobots25.com

Carol Olewine 
Inland Empire Regional Event Coordinator

carol.olewine@gmail.com

These two people were the ones that allowed me to volunteer at their events so that i may complete my independent component. 

(d) Explanation of what you completed.    


As i said in my description for my second independent component, i would be volunteering at FIRST Robotics competitions accross the county to meet people higher up in the field as well as to network with experts in their respective fields whether it be Science, technology, engineering, or math. The event i volunteered for was the FIRST Tech Challenge regional chamionships in Monrovia High School. I assisted as usual in Team Queueing where i met several other students like myself who wanted to Queue these types of events. I also was put into contact with a person who i could interview, Donald Schmidt with SMART education. I talked to almost 50 different teams from around the region about their skills and robotics knowledge and i basically got to do a small survey on the skills and usefulness that FTC brings to the kids which helped prove my answer.
The next FTC event i volunteered for was the Grand Terrace High School Inland Empire FIRST Robotics Regional. All that technical jargon just states where the event was held and FIRST Robotics regional refers to an event help for the highest tier of FIRST events for teams in the inland empire region. I worked again as a team queuer because that is my preferred job. It put me in contact with all the teams which helps me alot with my project. It allows me to talk to all of them and gauge their opinions on the events as well as learn more about the event so that my team could compete better.
I was still working at the FRC regional in Grand Terrace but today instead of doing team queueing i did robotic judging. I was put in direct contact with several of the head judges. Head judges are revered within the FIRST community for being the top of the top experts in their field. The contact allowed me to exchance contact information as well as speak to many of the smart minds in STEM fields today. I also ran into the head of SMART education, Mrs. Liberty Naud. Her and i spoke together for several moments on the state of the event and the impact that this singular event would have on the kids.
This day on Friday, i met with my robotics team to recount my volunteering experience as well as the experience they had showcasing the team at the Grand Terrace event. We discussed many plans for the future of our robotics team as well as planning what we were to do for fundraising for the remainder of the year. We discussed our I-Fest plan to raise money and began working on making it a reality.

INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

These photos are from March 1st and 2nd. They are photos of the event that happened at Grand Terrace High School. 

These photos are from when i volunteered with Ms. Taylor Halsey at the Monrovia High School FIRST tech challenge regional championships.

These two emails were sent to me after i volunteered at both of these events. 

APPLIED
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 
This component helped me answer my second answer, Progression of programs. A lot of the students i asked as well as a lot of the people i spoke to said they have been in the program since they were kids doing FIRST Lego League and it kept them interested. In a specific example, i was speaking to Ms. Liberty Naud and i asked her if she would be putting her kids into FIRST lego league the moment they became old enough. She told me that she has already started getting them into robotics ideas as well as learning about basic engineering ideas and principles so that they may be more excited when they actually began to be a part of FIRST Lego League. She began telling me about how kids who do something they're good at want to do more of that and she gave the analogy much like how kids who are good at video games like to play more. This same time of "do things you're good at" attitude is what helps keep students in the STEM programs from FIRST and propels them into STEM careers.

March Extra Blog

So i've been busy doing independent component. Powderpuff was around the corner and i'm glad we won that. My second independent component involved me volunteering a lot with higher level events so i could learn more about the impact it has on older students. I volunteered recently in riverside for a FIRST Robotics Competition event and that was a new experience for me. The robots seemed a lot more complex and dangerous and it was interesting seeing all the older more seasoned engineers working long and hard on projects like this.