Before I started college, I was a cadet in a youth program
run by the Air Force called Civil Air Patrol, which I am
still involved in today. There, I learned aerospace, leadership,
ethics, and military discipline. Since it was a hierarchical
structure, I spent my share of time teaching the junior cadets.
Later on at UC Santa Barbara, where I earned my mechanical
engineering degree, I often became the team leader for projects in
different classes, largely due to my industry experience. Frankly, at
institutions such as the UCs, the primary goal is often to create novel
and cutting-edge research rather than producing engineers with
practical knowledge for industry. I often found myself explaining
the different engineering processes, techniques, and materials
to my fellow teammates and giving them the opportunity to
learn and progress more fully. Eventually, I became a teaching
assistant for one of the school’s engineering classes. I enjoyed that
type of mentoring and teaching and it led me to teaching today.
At the lower end of the age spectrum, middle school students
are young and full of excitement. They are starting to explore
the world more and learn about themselves; it’s a critical point
to plant the thought of pursuing a STEM career into their
minds. Also at this time, they are developing the ability
to have abstract thoughts, which becomes particularly
important when learning science and math. A class like
robotics is where everything starts to come together.
At the upper end, the older students are well-versed in
math and science, and generally have a good idea of what
direction to go. I firmly believe that our students are capable
of working at a college level and this gives me a chance to
further push them in the direction that they want to go.
Robotics is a semester-long elective. It starts in grade seven and
runs through grade 12, with different building sets for Middle
and Upper School classes. The goal of this class is to generate
interest in STEM as we combine these fields to create useful
machines. An example of a project we do in class is programming
a robot to navigate a maze without getting stuck anywhere along
the walls or edges. It is important to use distance sensors so that
the robots have feedback and move precise distances. Another
example is building and programming robots to pick up blocks
of a certain color and stack them. Students are allowed to repeat
the class and continue working on building robots for competition
while learning more advanced programming and mechanics.
I try to teach my classes as exploratory labs. I keep the lectures
to a minimum and let the students uncover things through
hands-on learning. It gives them the chance to play around
and make their own discoveries, which can give them a greater
feeling of accomplishment and responsibility for their learning.
I expect all of my students to walk away with a basic
understanding of structured programming. Most of my students
have already learned the basic physics behind the mechanisms
we’re building. Programming requires a lot of abstract thinking,
but it becomes easier if the students can break things down
into small steps and organize them. It’s somewhat like essay
writing: statements can be moved around but it doesn’t
mean it’ll make sense, and punctuation mistakes will ruin
it. I’m teaching them to think like a programmer so they can
apply those skills to other advanced classes moving forward.
Laguna Blanca’s program is unique because students can begin
getting involved in STEM starting with our LEGO classes in the
Lower School and continue building—literally—on those skills
through the end of high school. As I learn, and as students learn, we
can better develop robotics classes into a comprehensive program
that spans from elementary through high school. We’re fortunate
to have seasoned faculty with industry experience who teach at the
college level. This helps build practical classes and also allows us to
challenge our students beyond traditional learning.
YOU EARNED YOUR DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO START TEACHING?
WHY MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UPPER SCHOOL?
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW THE ROBOTICS PROGRAM WORKS?
WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH IN HELPING THE STUDENTS GRASP THE
ROBOTICS CONCEPTS?
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT YOUR STUDENTS TO LEARN IN THE ROBOTICS
CURRICULUM?
WHAT MAKES LAGUNA’S ROBOTICS CURRICULUM SO SPECIAL?
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