Transcript What is WaterBotics?

WaterBotics
Teaching Science, Mathematics, and
Engineering Concepts Using LEGOTM
Underwater Robots
Jason Sayres
The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Eduction
Stevens Institute of Technologyz
What is WaterBotics?
• LEGOTM MINDSTORMS robotics in underwater
environment
• Approximately 20-hour curriculum aimed at middle and high
school classes as well as summer camps and after-school
activities
• Primarily funded by NSF Innovative Technology
Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Program
– Award #0929674: Build IT Underwater Robotics Scale-Up for STEM
Learning and Workforce Development (BISU)
Partners
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Stevens Institute of Technology
– Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE)
– Development of curriculum
– Primary training and support
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League for Innovation in the Community College
– Selection and support of community college partners to target formal educational
environments (i.e. schools)
– Year one selection: Sinclair Community College
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National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP)
– Selection and support of informal education programs, especially those aiming to engage
girls
– Year one selection: Texas Girls Collaborative Project
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International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA)
– Development and dissemination of a hybrid professional development program built around
WaterBotics curriculum
Why Underwater Robotics?
• Presents unique, complex design
challenges (e.g., buoyancy, control in 3-D)
• Exposure to concepts like propulsion, drag,
buoyancy and stability, gearing, torque,
speed, and thrust
• Awareness of careers that involve the
types of skills developed in the project
Why LEGOs?
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Familiarity (in some cases)
Ease of use and durability
Variety of pieces
Rapid prototyping, testing, redesign
– “Tweak friendly”
• Fewer components required to create startup kit
Project Challenge
Using LEGO and related components,
create an underwater ROV (remotely
operated vehicle) that will be able to
pick up weighted wiffle balls and
deposit them in a bin.
Task 1 – Straight Line Challenge
• Use a single motor to build a
vehicle that can travel the
diameter of the pool on the
surface as quickly as possible.
• Optimize gearing to achieve
best propeller speed.
Task 2 – Figure Eight Challenge
• Use a second motor to enable
steering.
• Maneuver on surface to
complete a slalom course
around two buoys in shortest
time.
Task 3 – Vertical Challenge
• Use a third motor and other
materials to control the vehicle's
buoyancy in order to descend
and rise vertically in water.
• Maneuver through the same
slalom course as in the
previous challenge, except this
time underwater.
Task 4 – Final Challenge
• Produce a vehicle which can
retrieve the greatest number of
objects from the bottom of the
pool within a specified period.
• Objects must be deposited in
bins at various depths in the
water to score points.
• A fourth motor may be used to
come up with some way to grab
and release the balls.
The NXT and Programming
Key Concepts, Skills
Buoyancy
Density
Newton’s Laws
Momentum
Gear Ratios
Energy
Torque
Forces
Volume
Mass-Weight Distribution
Simple Machines
Programming
Iterative Design
Teaming
Training Model
Educator Support
• Hub site staff
– Visits to schools
– Email and phone availability
– Optional follow-up professional development
• Website
– Course management
– Interactive FAQs
– Curriculum updates
• Optional Webcasts
Research Questions – Study 1
Professional Development Fidelity
• Is the program delivered with equal fidelity in different
environments?
• If not, what are the differences between trainers and also
between formal and informal teachers/staff and what
accounts for them?
• If the curriculum is altered, what is altered and why?
• Are there critical components of either the PD or the
curriculum without which the intended outcomes cannot
be achieved?
Research Questions – Study 2
Student Impact
• Is the curriculum as effective in a wider range of settings
as in the setting in which it was originally tested?
• Are student outcomes similar regardless of the teaching
environment (formal vs. informal)?
• If they differ, what are the differences and what accounts
for them?
Research Questions – Study 3
Scale-Up and Sustainability
• To what extent does/did each hub partner implement the
Build IT model?
• What is the correlation between the levels of success of
hub partners in meeting the project’s overarching goal
and their fidelity to the BISU model?
• What adaptations, adoptions, partnerships, and/or
collaborations resulted from implementation of the
project?
Research Questions – Study 3
Scale-Up and Sustainability (cont.)
• To what extent did hub sites become self-sustaining by
their fourth year in the project?
• How and to what extent did hubs develop a local funding
base?
• What capacity-building activities occurred to enable
project sustainability?
• To what extent did hub sites scale up or expand the
Build IT program?
Project Leader:
Antigone Sharris
Engineering Technology Faculty
Fellow Trainer:
Cullen Nicholson
Astronomy & Physics Faculty
Assistant:
Zack, Student Aide, Engineering
Technology
Volunteer Assistants:
Brittani, Engineering Technology Student
Maurice, Engineering Technology Student
Petia, Engineering Technology Student
Coverage of Schools
Work to Date
Summer 2011
Teacher Training Session (Week of July 11) at Triton College, River Grove, IL:
15 teachers attended representing (10) Chicagoland area schools
High School Age Youth Camp (Week of July 18), Triton College, River Grove, IL:
(10) females & (9) males
Fall 2011
Completed:
Karen Amador, Physics Class
Queen of Peace High School for Girls
- Karen Amador
Running a program now:
Ann Kuenster, Physics Class
Trinity High School for Girls
Steve Titmas, After School Program
St. Patrick’s High School for Boys
Management & Staffing
Assets (the kits):
Managed by a system involving inventory checklist
made “simple”. Tested out in the summer camp and
now in the classrooms and… so far… it works.
Staff (the people):
Currently (2) full-time faculty from different
departments are funded under the grant to work with
this project. The student aide for Engineering
Technology is being pulled for this project and
volunteers, mostly those in the Engineering
Technology program, are assisting with the logistics
of the program.
Upcoming & Long Term
Successes:
• (1) school done with students, parents, teacher, and school happy.
• (2) schools in process, balance in the works
• Contacted by (3) schools contacted us to be involved, because they heard
about work to date!
Challenges:
• Off campus concerns (ex.: 7 motors failed at one school)
• Scheduling kits out to schools on their preferred schedule
• On campus concerns (ex.: asset management, scheduling)
Upcoming & Long Term
Upcoming include:
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Kit distribution to remaining (8) schools
Summer 2012 Summer Teacher Training Institute (focused on middle school
faculty)
Summer 2012 Summer WaterBotics Camp (for youth in 7th and 8th grade)
Have fun working with the teachers and youth!
Long term (already in WIP) include:
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Work with area businesses on support for long term sustainability of program
Promoting the use of kits by current teachers for summer programs to
increase interest in STEM and possibly use as a funding vehicle to help
supplement the purchase of their own kit, keeping the program going after
this first year
Planning out how the current round of teachers can mentor the next round of
teachers, thereby seeding best practices
Waterbotics
Sinclair Community College
Sinclair Community College
• Main campus in downtown Dayton, Ohio
• 5 satellite Learning centers
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Mason
Englewood
Huber Heights
Preble County
Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base
Sinclair Community College
• 26,000 Students
• The lowest tuition rate in the state
• Credits easily transfer
WaterBotics 1st year
• Summer 2010
– Summer camp for 20 students
– Teacher Institute for 20 teachers
• School year 2010 – 2011
– 6 school programs completed for a total of
220 students participating
WaterBotics 2nd year
• Summer 2011
– Summer camp for 24 students
– Teacher Institute for 9 teachers
• School year 2011 – 2012
– 2 schools programs completed
– 3 schools programs are in progress
– 6 schools programs are scheduled
Waterbotics 2nd year
• Revisit the Teacher Institute class of 2010
to set them up for 2011-2012 school year
• Stay in contact with all the teachers to
provide support
Summer Camp in W.V.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3P
Convenience for teachers
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Material provided
Curriculum ready to go
Loads of support material
Technical support from Hub site
Challenges facing teachers
• Slotting time in a busy school year
• 50 min. sessions are difficult
• Space to keep a 12 ft. diameter pool
What’s next
• Summer Camp 2012
– 20 students
• Teachers Institute 2012
– Recruit 20 teachers
What’s next
• Continue to solicit sponsors until the
program is fully funded
• Recruit another person at Sinclair into
WaterBotics
• Investigate Home School sector of
education
Successes
• Vectren has agreed to be one of our
sponsors
Successes
• FUN
Successes
Challenges for Sinclair
• Recruiting teachers is getting more difficult
– Like other States, Ohio is cutting back on
school funding
– Ohio is changing it states teachers retirement
plan
• A large number of senior teachers are leaving now
before the plan changes.
Challenges for Sinclair
• Finding new schools
– Recruit from schools farther away
• Finding and maintaining sponsorship to
fund the project into the future
Thank you
For More Information
Jason Sayres
[email protected]
http://www.stevens.edu/ciese.org/waterbotics