Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
How College Students Are Increasing Global Competency while Inspiring the Next Generation of Engineers through UFLL (student poster)
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas, J. Scott Safai, Nick M. Thompson, Christopher F. |
| Copyright Year | 2013 |
| Abstract | This study is to show that college students can play a crucial role in inspiring the next generation of engineers through recreational learning opportunities like FIRST Lego League (FLL). The aspects explored are partnership models between college aged students and the FLL program, the significant educational benefit of these partnerships for both the college and middle school aged participants and the impact FLL has on participant’s perceptions of pursuing higher education in the field of engineering. In the competitive workplace of the world today, it is imperative to have more competent engineering graduates from our Institutions of Higher Ed. The current approach taken for getting young students excited about engineering is not effective enough. Young students are asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” but often do not know much about their options— not until high school or college are jobs discussed with detail. What if kids could experience firsthand what a career-field might entail, even before middle school? By practicing skills of teamwork, open ended problem solving and critical thinking in a fun and invigorating environment, kids can be inspired to pursue engineering education with passion and become competent international contributors. This study is intended to quantify the effect of a specific extracurricular program on middle school student’s views of science and engineering. FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League (FLL), a global innovation and robotics competition is a way to build this passion. Teams of kids ages 914 self-organize with an adult coach and are challenged to provide inventive solutions to real world problems (food contamination, aging, natural disasters) implementing critical research, brainstorming and professionalism skills in a different way than in solely traditional classroom education. This problem solving, combined with the technical challenge of designing and programming LEGO robots is a clever way of developing 21st century skills while having a lot of fun. By increasing the exposure of exciting technology-based activities, whole communities can be energized to provide more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) P ge 23666.2 2 opportunities and encouragement. The plan of this study is to monitor the success of FLL by tracking and tacking feedback from participants to determine the percent who pursue Engineering education. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://peer.asee.org/how-college-students-are-increasing-global-competency-while-inspiring-the-next-generation-of-engineers-through-ufll-student-poster.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
