Fourth Year Robotics Wrap Up

(So, just ignore the fact that I failed to post anything about robotics in years two and three. Oops – I got busy. /shrug )

One challenge I’ve had in teaching robotics is that I get very little feedback. Like basically none. Zilch. Zippo. Not from students, not from parents. I’ve been operating on the convenient adage, “No news is good news.” It’s not ideal.

But this year, I finally got some feedback. And, it was positive – even better! One parent told me (near the end of the year) that their student really liked the class. And at least two students told me that they like my class a lot and looked forward to it. Those were really encouraging nuggets.

At the same time, I felt like I needed more than just kind statements. I realized going into my last day of class that I needed to solicit student feedback, not wait for it. And since I’m teaching high-schoolers, it’s reasonable to ask them directly for their thoughts. So at the start of the last class of the year, I took an informal survey of how the year had gone. Here’s the quick result:

• 2 of the 8 students like learning Python;
• most of them liked the challenge segments that I introduced this year;
• all like the special speaker that I brought in;
• all are interested in “robot wars” interaction;
• at least one student had expected that robotics would involve circuits and hardware.

Each of these points is totally reasonable and believable. I think they were really being honest with me which is great!

The Python thing is interesting. This is the first year that I actually attempted to teach Python and required some use of it in a project. They did struggle with it and most had never tried any Python on their own. Maybe I’m a bad teacher; maybe they weren’t ready for it. Not sure. But the survey result, along with my observation in class, confirmed my concern in previous years – introducing a Python learning module is challenging for these students. That doesn’t mean I won’t try again though.

The challenge segment thing is also interesting. I really liked them and suspected I had hit on something good when I devised them during the year. When I introduced them I was kind of winging it, pivoting on intuition as the year played out. I’m so glad they liked those! I’ll definitely incorporate challenge segments in next year’s plan.

The note about robot wars is curious. I totally see a positive: these sessions create a playful atmosphere in class, which is a good change of pace during the year. So, I probably should keep that around too and introduce them when things are feeling a little slow or mundane. And I should find a way to make it more formal. I probably need a few rules. More on this later.

The other items gleaned in the survey are less important. I can’t satisfy all preconceived expectations, no matter how reasonable. I can’t always bring in a cool guest speaker. Regardless, I’ve learned some good things that I can use to make next year better.

Mission accomplished.