Blog 21: Mentorship

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place

Joey Uken

josephuken@gmail.com

(510)396-7674.

I-Poly Robotics Team (Formerly, Inland Empire Broncos Team 7258)

    Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

         The most important thing i gained IS the experience. To speak about the effectiveness of a FIRST robotic program in aiding students to become more adept in STEM fields means i have to understand how these programs work. I went through the programs so that i may know how they operate, what types of teaching they employ, and to understand the thought process of students who go through the programs. I now know that the programs work effectively because of the team structure and the use of projects to better further the STEM interest for these students. I myself found it fun to work with many different minds on creating things using our engineering skills and our hands on approach was very effective in making me want to participate in STEM fields. It is a completely different environment when you really look forward to meeting with your team and working on a new part of a robot or thinking of cool ideas to implement and i now know of the effectiveness of teams and working in them as well as being hands on in a project based format. 

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

          My mentorship has helped my answer three. Answer three involves the 4 C's, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and cooperation. These 4 C's are components of project and group based learning and working in a team and experiencing the team format with my own eyes is a very different experience from reading about it. I can now cite my own experience in these FIRST STEM programs as a useful primary source albeit my objectivity might now be completely solid. I was already interested in STEM fields before i joined the robotics team and it only helped me solidify what i want to do with the rest of my life which also helps reference answer 2.

Grading Criteria (May 13^th)

• 50 hours completed (50 from the academic year)

• LIA response (submitted to your blog)

• Essential question connection

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 hours check

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?



With the Inland Empire Broncos Robotics Team. We work together with mentors from Cal Poly.

2.   Who is your contact?


Joey Uken

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?

62 hours
 
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.


The 10 hours of service i did involved a lot of meetings with our mentors on Fridays and Sundays usually for 3 hours. We would meet and then work together on our robot with them giving us tips as well as ideas for what we should do. We would also pitch ideas and show off our work then receive feedback from it. The robot was always the main focus. Our meetings were basically like a small office. We had people working on fundraising and coverage as well as media and then we had people actually hands on with the robot and then we had other people working on coding program for the movement of the robot. That is usually how every meeting with our mentors goes.

Summer Mentorship Component

Literal:  

1. (Know) Using google doc, link a log of specific hours and a description of your duties

Mentorship Log

2. What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered? 

            Name: Mike La

      Place of mentorship: Kavio Collections

      Phone number: 1(626)673-0610
      
3. (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them.
     ·   What kinds of skills are required to work at a job like this?

·   Are there certain classes that are necessary to take for a job in IT?

·   Are there better places where I can be mentored?

·   Is this job something I can see myself doing?

·   Will the topic I have even relate to this mentorship when I finally decide on my final specific EQ?

·   What if my EQ doesn’t even use what I learned here?

·   Why am I doing this?

Interpretive

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

1.    The most important thing I learned from this experience was stunning reality of work. My main focus when choosing my mentor was to find someone who was close to me or was easily accessible and did a job that was related to my senior project. I mentored with the tech guy at my father’s workplace and what I really learned was what kind of work they do. I learned about waking up early and working 8 hours a day but I also learned about the job and the main computer knowledge as well.

Applied
 
5. How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

1.     The mentorship I did still has not helped me choose a specific topic. I think that the most important factors to consider when choosing a topic have to do with how it can be researched, taught, and the availability of mentors. When the time comes to choose a topic, I will take all these factors into consideration plus all the work I did with my summer mentor as well.