Last Class before the Holidays!

Congrats to all the girls for finishing their robots! We had the opportunity to program them directly on the NXT brick today. Our next class will be the Monday we get back from Christmas Break.

I will teach the girls some LabView basics by helping them build a simple program. After they understand that--I will assign them a design challenge that uses similar steps in LabView. Once I have the program designed I will take a screen shot and post it on the blog!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Danielle Feerst

First class after Thanksgiving!

I was so excited to see the girls again after school today. They worked hard to finish their robots- and to my surprise both groups are almost done building! Next Monday I want them to finish up the basic structure so we can play around with programming directly on the NXT brick. I want to show them how motors and sensors works so they get a feel for their robots. Then I am going to show them how to log onto their LabView software in the lab.

We will probably finish up next Monday with a quick writing assignment or reading lesson about programming. Then the hard stuff will begin before we leave for Christmas break! Wow...this semester has gone by quickly.

Over the holiday break I will be planning out our last lessons and some cool programming options, as well as my final presentation and speech. I will also be stringing my research papers together to form some sort of finished thesis paper.

Keep reading! I am so proud of the girls- and how this project is going. I know Ashley Hall is already working on developing a LEGO robotics curriculum for next year! See you next Monday!

Brilliant Builders!

Today we broke into pairs again and began building the LEGO NXT robot! I can tell that it is going to take us 2 or 3 classes to finish our robots before I can introduce programming on the computer. We eat a lot of skittles...I am going to have to refuel my candy supply. But, this is food for thought so I am willing to pay the way through this year in candy!!

At the end of class I showed the girls the IDEO shopping cart video and had them write down a few things they learned. This youtube video shows how the shopping cart was redesigned--it also shows the workplace of an engineer: a free thinking office, where team work and communication are essential.

First LEGO Class- A Success!

Today I met with Ann, Meaghan (6th grade), Jessica, and Carly (5th grade). We discussed the layout of the class, I gave them their folders with engineering articles, and directions for their Engineering Journal. They are enthusiastic and smart young ladies--I have a great group and look forward to working with them this year!!

We talked about the Engineering Design Process, and how the journal keeping would facilitate communication and group work. Then we did the parachute design! Their designs were better than I hoped! (and better than my own at home). Ann and Meaghan's parachute hit the ground last (so technically they won!)However, all got a candy prize.

Next week we are discussing the IDEO shopping cart video (youtube--an idea I got from the Tufts Symposium), and the articles I gave to them. We begin building our robots next week! I showed them the one I made with the program I built from LabView 2010 last night! That got alot of cheers from the girls, who look forward to making the robot sing an original song. This will be a programming challenge for me of course, as well as the girls!! All in all it was a great day! See you all next week.

November 6, 2011--Class Begins Tomorrow!

This past week has been very busy preparing the finishing touches to my lesson for tomorrow's class. I confirmed that all four 6th grade girls are going to be working with me this year (Monday's from 3:30 to 4:40.) Tomorrow we are going to be doing the activities posted on my lesson plan. (See 1st lesson plan from Oct. 10th blog link). I also finished building my own robot at home! I worked some of the building kinks out so the girls should be able to have a smooth build over a period of 2 or 3 weeks. The girls will build their robots in partners. Then we will begin programming. This weekend I am going through the LabView tutorial to start building my own program that I will teach the girls.

Mrs. Kainz ordered "Blocks to Robots" by Bers, and "Educate NXT" by Chris Bracken, Rob Torok, Damien Kee, and Chris Rogers. I met Rob, Damien, and Chris Rogers (my mentor) when I went to my internship at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education. These books are a great addition to the Ashley Hall STEM program! I look forward to citing them in my research and using ideas for the classroom activities.

October 25

This week has been particularly busy! I am meeting with Mrs. Kainz again this Friday after our annual Halloween carnival at school. We will continue building with the LEGOs, taking notes about what to point out to the girls when they start to build. I am also gathering my materials (baggies, tape, string, etc) for the Parachute Design that we will do the first week of class. I am meeting with the girls at some point this week or next to decide the best time for our classes. Right now the idea is to meet once a week, after school for an hour either on a Monday or Wednesday. I will keep you all posted!

Revised Research Paper for MUSC

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to post on my new blog my revised version of the research paper I wrote for Dr. Michelle Woodbury (OT)at MUSC. The paper is an exploration of four different robotic devices used in Stroke and spinal cord rehabilitation. Enjoy!

LEGO Robotics Program Week 10

Another successful week in my senior project! Yesterday I stayed after school to start building the LEGO Mindstorm NXT Robot with Mrs. Kainz, lower school STEM teacher.

I also put together folders for the first day of class. I gave all four girls two articles. One is from USA Today, "Space Station's Humanoid Robot Wakes Up" (August 8, 2011). I thought this would get the girls excited about our motto, "LEGO to the Future!" I also included a newspaper article from the Post and Courier, "Melding Mind and Machine" (Monday, Oct. 10, 2001). This one is an inspirational story about a quadriplegic research patient who successfully moves a robotic arm through chips implanted in his brain. This story parallels the research I do on rehab robotics at the Medical University of SC (MUSC). I hope discussing this article will stimulate interest and discussion about the medical applications of engineering robotics. Ultimately this is where the girls are going to journey in the spring--over to the Research Center at MUSC to explore the rehabiliation robots.

See you next week!

First Reading Reflection Paper (Oct. 10, 2011)

Attached is my completed lesson plan for day 1 of my classroom activities with the Ashley Hall girls! I also attached my research paper for the month which documents my progress thus far!! Be sure to click on the URL links on my Lesson Plan to see the Youtube videos and Articles the girls will be exploring in November.

Tomorrow I am purchasing pocket folders for articles and handouts that I will give to the girls this year. I can't wait to find out when we can all meet on a regular basis!

Enjoy;)

Oct. 4, 2011

Last Friday I met with Mrs. Kainz in her office. She is keeping my LEGOs in her locked closet there. I showed her my first lesson plan, and she gave me some tips for a starting activity! We are going to meet most Fridays to build with the LEGOs and explore the LabView programming software together. Hopefully I will sit in on some of her classes/ after school workshops and club meetings too. I invited her to come to my first after school meeting with the girls in November. Tomorrow, (Weds. Oct 5th) I am going over to MUSC to meet with Jenna Nott, who knows how to work the LabView. She is going to tutor me in computer programming-- hopefully I will have my first code written my the end of the week!!

Sept. 24, 2011

 This week I met with Mrs. Kainz who teaches 5th and 6th grade STEM. She is going to meet with me every Friday after school to build robots and help me with my activities. I feel like with her advice I will be much more successful with my class this year!! I am currently studying effective teaching strategies and planning out my first lesson! The classes will hopefully begin in November!!         

Sept. 18, 2011

This week was very exciting!! I was invited by my 2nd mentor, Dr. Woodbury, to MUSC to meet a visiting Robotics Engineer from the University of Padua, Italy. His name is Mr. Rosati, and I was able to sit in on a conference with him and other department heads at the Health Research building. Afterwards, they had me for lunch, where I talked to Mr. Rosati one on one about my project and neurorehabilitation robotics.

Dr. Woodbury returned my research paper to me with her comments. I am currently editing it, and will be expounding upon my paper as the year progresses to turn it into my final thesis.          

Week 1 of Blogging!! Sept. 7, 2011

My LEGOs arrived this week from Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach! Hooray! I am currently studying LabView programming for the LEGO activities on my labtop, and designing my first lesson plan. Mrs. Neel and Mrs. Kainz are helping me put together a pool of available students who would be willing to work with me this year. Once I get that group together we will set our first meeting date. I have 2 computers in the Ashley Hall lab already designated for my project, onto which I need to download the LabView software. Thats all for now! It has been a productive week. My goal for the end of next weekend is to have my lesson plan drafted.          

Welcome from Danielle Feerst

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my senior project at Ashley Hall School for Girls (Charleston, South Carolina) entitled, "LEGO Engineering Education with Sixth Graders: Exploring Basic Concepts and Use of Robotics in Medical Rehabilitation."