Transcript Slide 1

FIRST Robotics In VA Schools:
Making a Lasting Impact on Academic Trajectories
Nate Laverdure
A Presentation To:
Virginia Department of Education
Division of Technology & Career Education
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
FIRST Lego
League
FIRST Tech
Challenge
FIRST Robotics
Competition
2007 Competition: “Rack & Roll”
2002 Competition: “Zone Zeal”
2006 Competition: “Aim High”
2005 Competition: “Triple Play”
FIRST is Expanding
37,000 Students
1,500 Teams from 8
countries and every
state in the U.S.
41 Regional Events in
Brazil, Canada,
Israel, U.S.
FIRST 2007 Annual Report
FIRST is Making an Impact
2005 Independent study by Brandeis University
Funded by the Ford Foundation
Why are Science and Technology
Careers Important in VA?
An engineering gap?
In an apples-to-apples comparison, the US still
confers more four-year engineering degrees than
India, and its gap with China is less than half of
what other reports suggest.
ENGINEERING
U.S.*
INDIA
CHINA
Bachelor’s Degrees
137,437
112,000
351,537
Associate degrees
(or equivalent**)
84,898
103,000
292,569
*US figures adjusted to reflect more inclusive measures used
by India
**Three-year diplomas in India; short-cycle degrees in China
China graduates
twice as many
engineers as U.S.
Important to a
sustainable &
independent
economy
Image: Christian Science Monitor;
Data: Duke University Study
Image: “Construction of the Three Gorges Dam” by Flickr user H@r@ld (some rights reserved)
Image: Millau Viaduct (in public domain)
Image: Venetian Buildings by The Triple Bottom Line Blog; wwwgetsustainable.net (all rights reserved)
Why are Science and Technology
Careers Important in VA?
Engineering may
be undervalued
Cannot change
the economy
Must change the
culture
Digest of Education Statistics, 2006
Changing Culture
Football heroes
Political heroes
Comic book heroes
Business heroes
Fireman heroes
Music heroes
War heroes
Astronaut heroes
Religious heroes
TV heroes
…& Guitar Heroes
Why not science &
technology heroes?
The FIRST Vision
"To transform our culture
by creating a world where science
and technology are celebrated
and where young people dream
of becoming science and
technology heroes.“
— Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder