2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is essential for the prosperity of the US economy and its job sectors. To equip the next generation of STEM professionals with the skills needed for innovation and to tackle the challenges of globalization, K-12 education plays a key role in laying the groundwork for STEM education. In addition to the significant efforts made by the US government, collaborative community initiatives such as international robotics competitions have emerged as valuable platforms for K-12 students to apply STEM and soft skills within the context of robot competitions. These competitions foster an environment of gracious professionalism, inspiring more students to pursue careers in STEM fields while also ensuring a positively challenging and enjoyable experience. With kids’ continuous endeavor to build robots through the annual competitions, robots also build kids by enhancing their self-esteem, forging their identities, and cultivating essential characteristics such as persistence, proactivity, and passion, which are vital for their future academic and career development. Furthermore, diverse themes in annual robotic competitions facilitate project-based learning (PBL) opportunities tailored to children of varying ages. This study explores an eight-year PBL journey of a robotic team, from FIRST Lego League (FLL) to FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) competitions, detailing their evolution from novices to a globally competitive unit and the personal growth of its members into societal leaders.

Each year, team activities were separated into multiple technical, outreach, or joint projects, with each project incorporating key PBL elements. The FIRST competition manual was carefully read and discussed with the team, fostering open discussions on enhancing robot performance and achieving broader team impacts. Coaches introduced necessary skills during FLL contests for members under Grade 7, while older members independently sought out specific training from professional mentors for FTC challenges. Through document reviews, discussions, and guidance from coaches and mentors, the team identified challenges and solutions, assigned roles to each task collaboratively, and conducted weekly reviews of project milestones and task completions. The team’s performance and robot games were assessed by judges in FIRST competitions.

Longitudinal comparisons of PBL outcomes were performed considering the team members’ self-evaluation, satisfactory level of team parents, and impacts of team
activities. It recorded 153 training sessions on technical and soft skills, including mechanical engineering, programming, usage of sensors, computer-aided design, and 3D printing, alongside skills in professional communication, oral and written presentation, engineering notebook documentation, and conflict resolution. Each senior member contributed about 3,522 hours to practice and competition, with an additional 780 hours in outreach efforts assisting 10 FIRST teams and engaging thousands of individuals. These efforts underline the team’s accomplishments in skill development, career readiness, and community engagement, demonstrating a model of successful PBL with consistently enhanced performance.

By sharing this journey, the study seeks to illustrate the incremental development of technical skills alongside soft skills and the cultivation of essential characteristics such as persistence, proactivity, and passion, which are vital for their future academic and career development. The concept of "Robots build kids" encapsulates a journey of transformation where PBL-guided robotic education has played a pivotal role in shaping well-rounded individuals.