Building STEM Competence and Confidence with Robotics
In today�s technology-rich society, access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs for students is more important than ever. STEM competence and confidence creates pathways to well-paying jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in the fastest-growing fields. Many educators, mentors and parents of middle and high school students use robotics programs as a vehicle to increase student exposure and access to developing STEM principles. The FIRST Tech Challenge Jump Start program introduces students in grades 7-12 to robotics and challenges them to build and program a robot designed to compete against other teams in a floor game. Jump Start teams get a head start on learning robot building and programming techniques months ahead of the competition season, which kicks off in September each year. With this extra time, educators and mentors can use FIRST Tech Challenge Jump Start to build students� STEM competence and confidence in the following ways. Introduce student...