Subject:
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Re: Mindstorms (more than just robotics?)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Fri, 6 Nov 1998 21:12:01 GMT
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Original-From:
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SWSPOON@AOL.avoidspamCOM
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Viewed:
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2138 times
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In a message dated 11/6/98 12:59:33 PM Central Standard Time,
lugnet.robotics@lugnet.com writes:
<< Q: what are the ages of your students?
These were gifted students ages 7 - 10. I think that MindStorms would work
easily with ages 9 - adult. Elementary students are challenged just using the
MindStorms set as is. The older students would be more involved with
alternate programming, homemade sensors, etc.
Q: how big of a group did you have, (just Derek, Benny, Andrew, Alex, and
Adam, or was it more )
This workshop just included these five students. I only have one RCX and I
didn't think I could accommodate a group bigger than this without giving up
hands on time. The students were frothing at the bit waiting for their turn
as it was! I do have a large selection of LEGO bricks. I have four sons and
a daughter that have been collecting LEGO for years.
Q: did you do this as an individual learning project, or was the whole
class involved?
This was just an experimental after school computer club project. I plan on
expanding to the whole classroom by breaking into groups. It is still tough
with one RCX. It takes the kids awhile to build and program their robot.
Another group can't really get started until the RCX is freed up -- which
means disassembling the current project. The real learning occurs in the
errors and solutions and that takes time.
I need more RCXs!
When I work with a whole classroom I will probably take a month to let the
whole class build in groups. I'll let each group have a week to work on their
robot. I can only give a little class time (45 min a day). The rest of the
time will have to be recess and lunch. As a class we'll listen to daily
reports from each team about problems/solutions. The last team will
definitely have the advantage.
Q: if the whole class, did you have multiple groups running at once?
I can't really accommodate this without more RCXs.
Q: How much time per day was spent on this? (that is, how long were the
after school workshops)?
I held three consecutive days of three hour workshops. The kids were out of
school for inservice and I persuaded my principal to let me use my time
experimenting! We took a fifteen minute break in the middle of the three
hours. The kids worked the rest of the time straight. I was planning on at
least two breaks. They wouldn't take them. This is an amazing attention span
for this age.
At the end of the workshop I gave each of the students a certificate for one
solid hour of work with the RCX on their own. The time can be scheduled with
me before/after school or lunchtime.
Q: did you work from a structured lesson plan or just kind of wing it?
A little of both. I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish but after we
got started the kids had new ideas and we just went with them.
Q: how did you divide up the tasks and responsibilities? the site talks
about WE a lot, was that the kids with you just doing hints? Did you
build the bots and let them program, etc?
The "we" is the students. They did the building and programming with hints
and some direction from me. I gave them "challenges" and they would try to
complete them. Hints were phrased like: "What do you think would happen if
you changed this?" The students were assigned to teams -- building or
programming. They worked together to find solutions to problems. They traded
back and forth between the design team and the programming team on each new
project. This seemed to work well.
I have thought about using the whole class at once with some students
designing on paper and writing programs on paper etc. But let's face it, the
fun is in the hands on accomplishment. That is why I don't believe you can
have a group larger than 4-6 working with only one RCX.
Nit: don't forget to credit Todd's bricks. (they're my favorite color, I
use dark blue on my site too) Feel free to steal the way I did my
disclaimer page... >>
Q: how did you do the animations? They're cute!
::::::::hanging my head here::::::::::
... I stole the animations from LEGO official site and did not have any
permission or give any credit. Not a good example for a teacher to give. I
downloaded them ahead of time and the students placed them on the webpage.
I didn't plan on "advertising" our page to anyone outside of my classroom. I'm
breaking the first rule of web publishing: "The net is for everyone, write
like the world is looking." My only excuse is that the students always like
animated gifs when creating webpages and I didn't have time to make any. I'm
usually good at giving credit if what we borrow is not in the public domain.
But you're right- I am wrong. I will give credit where credit is due and I
will go over this with my students on Monday.
Sorry, Todd. You are now credited on our page.
I hope this helps you use the MindStorms with children. Please let me know
how your project works. Where are you located and what ages are your children?
Tonya Witherspoon
Wichita, KS
OK Elementary
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