Sample screens from a Crimper tutorial.

VEX CURRICULUM TESTIMONIALS
To see how effective the CMU Robotics Academy VEX Curriculum has been, we interviewed several teachers. Here is what we learned.

MIKE SCARPACI
NORTH HILLS HIGH SCHOOL, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Mike Scarpaci teaches robotics at North Hills High School, both level one and level two courses in automation. He teaches nearly 100 students in four classes a year and has been teaching robotics for 11 years. His teams have competed in FIRST, VEX, Botball and FIRST LEGO League (FLL). Mike has been using the VEX Curriculum from the Robotics Academy for approximately four years. We asked him what were the benefits? He noted that the Curriculum’s ability to independently mentor students allows him more time with his students. “With a resource like the VEX Curriculum, students can work at their own pace, and succeed at their pace. Some kids get it right away and some may need to repeat some lessons. The Curriculum really helps me when a student is behind or is absent, it allows them to catch up and I don’t have to re-demonstrate the lesson. I especially like that it is online because I can assign homework assignments and know that students have access to the materials.”

Mike notes that eager students can independently move forward because of the Curriculum. “The kids who get it right away—they can pursue lots of different tangents off of the curriculum that become individualized enrichment projects. If students are motivated to learn more, the resources are available to them. In my beginning class we keep to simple programming and sensors. For my gifted students this becomes boring, but the curriculum teaches the advanced students how to implement multi-sensor solutions that allow the robots to make complex decisions; I love the curriculum because it allows me to have projects for all levels of students.”

Mike also uses resources attached to the Robotics Institute site. Students become enamored by all of the projects going on at the university. “Carnegie Mellon is the ‘hot center’ of robotics, and the Curriculum makes the kids feel that they are involved in, and a part of, the university. If you want to study robotics, here’s where you start to learn to be one of the best of the best.”

“I try to structure my classes so that all students are successful. Some students can become overwhelmed and scared when you mention robotics and programming, but the scaffolded nature of the VEX Curriculum and the Teaching ROBOTC materials is designed to help all students succeed. It is designed so that they experience success early and often; success breeds future success. I really like that. Students learn science, math and how to solve problems, and its fun! The Carnegie Mellon curriculum prepares students for lots of different career paths; liberal arts, technical, communications, engineering…

“I’ve found the ROBOTC training materials to be very positive for my students. Programming can be hard to teach, I know because I’ve been teaching robotics for nearly 10 years. The ROBOTC curriculum allows kids to quickly recognize ‘I can do this.’ In the past, I taught using icon based software, the RCX software for MINDSTORMS, EasyC and PK Teach, and I found myself re-teaching programming concepts and trying to show student how the different software compared. Now I use ROBOTC for VEX, the NXT and the RCX. Using ROBOTC allows me to teach programming using one well-supported package, and I don’t have to spend all of my time reteaching the different programming languages. I know that I’ve said this before, but it is very easy for kids to build a pattern of success. For me, ROBOTC is head and shoulders better than anything else I’ve used for programming.”

Asked how he would characterize the overall approach of the CMU VEX Curriculum, Mike replies: “Most of the curriculum is built on small engineering/problem solving tasks, where students apply STEM concepts. Students achieve early success with these small tasks and can move on to more difficult problems as the course evolves. I have to make a note regarding the quality of the materials. Even the actors who narrate the videos are very pleasant to listen to—not drab or boring. I am extremely impressed with the quality of the materials. My kids actually enjoy listening to them! The VEX Curriculum has been a big, big help to me as a teacher.”

--Mike Scarpaci
scarpacim@nhsd.net

MIKE DISCHNER
MCKEESPORT AREA HIGH SCHOOL AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER, MCKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA

Mike Dischner teaches Computer Aided Design 1 and 2 (tech ed) in preparation for engineering technology careers and has been teaching industrial arts/technology education for 15 years. His student teams have competed in VEX and the FIRST competitions in recent years, and he’s mentoring a new LEGO League team at his middle school. He has used parts of the VEX Curriculum for four years, but this past year he has switched to using the VEX Curriculum exclusively, and is changing his courses to use the VEX and LEGO NXT platforms “as organizers to teach engineering and design concepts.”

“Last summer I had the opportunity to investigate the curriculum and materials line by line. I was impressed with the depth and breadth offered through this package, I have more than enough material to fill my two year course while preparing the students for post secondary learning. The new ‘Engineering’ section is especially informative and challenging.”

“The training interface is designed to walk you through the Curriculum sections step by step. The students are able to interact with the materials very easily and intuitively. Students work at their own speed and the curriculum allows them to repeat concepts they are having difficulty mastering. It is perfect for the philosophy of ‘competency based education.’

“I have been privileged to participate in training and teacher experience opportunities offered through the Robotics Academy over the past four years and have participated in the development of the Curriculum. The product continues to get better with each iteration. The VEX hardware gets the students interested; once they see the robot rolling around they want to build one. It is a short leap from remote control to programming an autonomous robot. The ROBOTC training materials have simplified my job and all of the challenges involved in teaching a diverse classroom how to program.

“I believe the competitions challenge the students to perform in ways they did not think they could; this is a particularly important factor for the student body at McKeesport. This community thrived on the steel industry and has been trying to recover from its demise since the early 1980s. This curriculum has given me a tool to change how students perceive engineering and it allows them to experience success as they prepare themselves to compete in today’s world.

“I am the only technology education teacher in my building; most classes that involve tools are vocational. Offering this Curriculum has given me the opportunity to provide a first class experience for my students as they prepare to for a variety of career paths. I’ve always struggled to offer my students challenging and innovative programs. I designed and implemented many of them. Now, I no longer am an ‘island’ out here trying to create innovative programs and projects without peers to share the ideas.

“The Robotics Academy is one e-mail or phone call away. Problems and moral support are offered without hesitation and the staff is very aware that teachers implementing new curriculum need their help. If past performance is a predictor of future products, the materials and information offered through The Robotics Academy and ROBOTC will only get better. As hard as I have tried, I know that I couldn’t put together the quantity or quality of high end materials offered through the Robotics Academy. These are far from canned programs doomed to bore teachers and students after a while. I no longer feel like the ‘Lone Ranger’ out here trying every day to make entertaining lessons or projects for the “Wii Generation”. At 57 I have rediscovered the excitement of teaching and most days I look forward to doing what I do for years to come. I will be involved with robotics and FIRST for a very long time.”

--Mike Dischner
MDischner@mckasd.net

RANDY BISH
BEATTIE TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, ALLISON PARK, PENNSYLVANIA

Randy Bish is a teacher at A.W. Beattie Career and Technical Center, a vocational school for grades 10 to 12 in Pennsylvania. He teaches Agile Robotics and Intelligence Systems, and a Cisco networking class. This year Randy has 13 Agile Robotics students who range in grade level from 10th through 12th. The school has an articulation agreement with California University of Pennsylvania so that the students are able to earn college credits as they take Randy’s courses. This program began in 2006, and a local medical robotics company, McKesson Automation, sees Beattie graduates as well qualified to begin as technicians in their automation company. McKesson builds pharmaceutical robots that sort medications.

Project Management

I asked Randy how he used the VEX Curriculum. “I use the VEX Curriculum as the entry level curriculum. It covers at least the first year of my program. We start with project management. We use the lessons designed to teach 21st century skills like project management, brainstorming, scheduling, conducting design reviews… In my class, students form into teams and need to learn how to work together. I also incorporate lessons on electronics, how remote control works, and programming. I set the class up with concurrent sessions so that they are doing theory work at the same time as team management.

“Today, my class is working on the VEX Elevation Challenge and we will be competing in the upcoming California University VEX challenge. The students are in final preparation and its neat watching them because they are realizing the importance of time management as a resource. They are learning that they should have conducted more testing because their engineering is not working exactly as hoped. They are feeling under the gun to get their project working the way it needs to work. These are great lessons for students and we will cover them in more detail when we debrief after the competition.

How much of the Curriculum have you used? “I’ve gone through the whole curriculum once, and am in the second iteration of implementation. The Robotics Academy has developed rubrics that can be used to assess students. The curriculum is driven using authentic assessment and project-based learning. In my case, what really works well is pairing younger students working with older students—it allows my senior students to experience mentoring roles. It also changes my role—although I don’t spend as much time reteaching concepts, now I spend time helping students learn to work appropriately together; it is very important that students learn to work in teams.”

Parametric Solid Modeling

Do you use the parametric solid modeling materials? “We don’t use all of the material—I teach students to use SolidWorks; the Curriculum has the VEX models in Autodesk and Pro-E also. I place a greater emphasis on electronics in my program. The Robotics Academy Curriculum introduces students to electronics, and my curriculum goes deeper. I also teach forces, vectors, torque, and kinetics. The Curriculum has a new section on mechanics that is very well organized and although advanced, provides lots of teacher resources.”

What core value do you see in the Curriculum? “When a person is going to learn robotics, the Curriculum pretty much covers all of the basics. To me, I get the most value from the practical and project-based activities. I also like the assessment rubrics. In a vocational program, students need the whole experience, including crimping a connector, making a nice neat wiring harness, using meters and the evaluation. We were using the Robotics Academy’s Curriculum as we prepared for the FIRST robotics project. A representative of Caterpillar visited our class during a design review, which is part of the engineering cycle recommended in the engineering section of the curriculum. Caterpillar saw this and funded our program. I like competitions because of the experiential learning students participate in.”

Do you use ROBOTC? “I use the package from CMU with both VEX and the LEGO robots. I like ROBOTC, and as time goes on, it becomes easier and easier to use. I have been able to attract top students—within the top 3 – 5%. Three of my seniors will go to either California University or Penn State. I am really thrilled to teach this program. The curriculum and ROBOTC have been materials factor in the success of my students. We have a blend between FIRST and VEX. Whether the robots are five feet high or one foot high, they are both controlled by sensors.”

Do you rely upon any particular mix of multi-media? In order to show proof that we’ve covered particular competencies, I have students complete worksheets. The Robotics Academy site is a huge resource for my students. I have purchased the VEX Curriculum, but find it very valuable that it is online. The students are able to access the information from everywhere, not just in my classroom!”

—Randy Bish, rbish@beattietech.com