Robotics 10
Introduction
Within Core Curriculum, the Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) is a major area of study that incorporates five traditional areas of Home Economics Education, Business Education, Work Experience Education/Career Education, Computer Education, and Industrial Arts Education. Saskatchewan Education, its educational partners, and other stakeholders have collaborated to complete the PAA curriculum renewal. Some PAA curriculum guidelines have been updated; some components have been integrated, adapted, or deleted; some Locally Developed Courses have been elevated to provincial status; and some new guidelines have been developed.
A companion Practical and Applied Arts Handbook provides background on Core Curriculum philosophy, perspectives, and initiatives. The Handbook provides a renewed set of goals for PAA. It presents additional information about the PAA area of study, including guidelines about work study and related transition-to work dimensions. In addition, a PAA Information Bulletin provides direction for administrators and others regarding the implementation of PAA courses.
Philosophy and Rationale
The Robotics 10 Curriculum is designed to introduce students to basic skills, programming and building of simple robots. This course is intended to build on the introductory skills developed in the PAA9 Survey Course taught at Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic High School. The skills and knowledge taught in the Robotics 10 curriculum will increase resourcefulness of students and help them to develop self-reliance and independence. The curriculum is also designed to provide opportunity for achievement and success at projects and activities that in turn builds self-image and increases self-confidence. The curriculum ideas and learning outcomes develop skills necessary for understanding certain technologies that students may encounter in their future.
Robotics 10 relies heavily on the use of computers to program robots to follow simple instructions. This will improve students’ technological skills and interest in computers, which is very important today. Students need the opportunity to learn new skills and practise with new technologies in the classroom, and this may help them later in their future workplaces. Robotics 10 is designed both to create awareness of and to develop the skills required in today’s high-tech world. This course is designed to give students the skills and practical experience necessary to achieve success in future robotics courses, as well as in technologically based industries.
Aim, Goals, Outcomes and Indicators
Aim – The Robotics 10 Curriculum focuses on essential knowledge and understanding of simple robots, how they work, how they are programmed, how they use sensors, and how they operate as a result of what their sensors are telling them. It stresses the importance of hands-on student work, with partners or in larger teams. It also aims to develop self-reliance, independence, and positive social skills as well as to teach basic life skills such as cooperation, teamwork, decision-making, and communication.
Goals
Consumer Knowledge: To develop knowledge that will enable students to be successful programmers of basic robots.
Personal Skills: To allow students to cultivate practical, technical skills that can be used when working with computers, sensors and other similar technologies.
Technological Advances: To gain knowledge of the changes in the production, programming, operation and use of robots, and to perhaps understand the many conveniences that people enjoy today, which can be attributed to technological advances.
Careers and Employment: To create an awareness of the career opportunities in the field of robotics.
Awareness: To become aware of required pre-employment skills within the robotics industry.
Employability Skills: To develop team-building skills by working cooperatively with others.
Personal Management Skills: To promote self-esteem, confidence, and a positive attitude towards robots and related technologies.
Communications: To develop effective social and communication skills for business environments.
Connections between School and Work: To create a connection between the world of school and the world of work.
Common Essential Learnings
The incorporation of the Common Essential Learnings (CELs) into the instruction and assessment of the Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) curriculum offers many opportunities to develop students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. The purpose of the CELs is to assist students with learning concepts, skills, and attitudes necessary to make transitions to career, work, and adult life.
The CELs establish a link between the Transition-to-Work dimensions and Practical and Applied Arts curriculum content. The Transition-to-Work dimensions included in the PAA curricula are: apprenticeship, career exploration/development, community project(s), employability skills, entrepreneurial skills, occupational skills, personal accountability, processing of information, teamwork, and work study/experience. Throughout this PAA curriculum, CELs are embedded in daily instruction, and are coded in this document, as follows:
COM = Communication
NUM = Numeracy
CCT = Critical and Creative Thinking
TL = Technological Literacy
PSVS = Personal and Social Values and Skills
IL = Independent Learning
It is expected that teachers will find additional ways to incorporate CELs into classroom instruction.
Inquiry
Inquiry learning provides students with opportunities to build knowledge, abilities, and inquiring habits of mind that lead to deeper understanding of their world and human experience. The inquiry process focuses on the development of compelling questions, formulated by teachers and students, to motivate and guide inquiries into topics, problems, and issues related to curriculum content and outcomes. Inquiry is more than a simple instructional method. It is a philosophical approach to teaching and learning, grounded in constructivist research and methods, which engages students in investigations that lead to understanding and skills within the discipline as well as knowledge that is applicable across disciplines. For example, understanding the how a LED works will support understanding of electricity in science.
Inquiry builds on students’ inherent sense of curiosity and wonder, drawing on their diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences. The process provides opportunities for students to become active participants in a collaborative search for meaning and understanding. Students who are engaged in inquiry:
· construct deep knowledge and deep understanding rather than passively receiving it
· are directly involved and engaged in the discovery of new knowledge
· encounter alternative perspectives and conflicting ideas that transform prior knowledge and experience into deep understanding
· transfer new knowledge and skills to new circumstances (e.g., the workplace)
· take ownership and responsibility for their ongoing learning of curriculum content and skills.
(Adapted from Kuhlthau & Todd, 2008, p. 1)
Inquiry learning is not a step-by-step process, but rather a cyclical process, with parts of the process being revisited and rethought as a result of students’ discoveries, insights, and construction of new knowledge. The following graphic shows the cyclical inquiry process.
Constructing Understanding Through Inquiry
Inquiry prompts and motivates students to investigate topics within meaningful contexts. The inquiry process is not linear or lock-step, but is flexible and recursive. Experienced inquirers move back and forth through the cyclical process as new questions arise and as students become more comfortable with the process.
Well-formulated inquiry questions are broad in scope and rich in possibilities. They encourage students to explore, gather information, plan, analyze, interpret, synthesize, problem solve, take risks, create, develop conclusions, document, and reflect on learning, and develop new questions for further inquiry.
In robotics, inquiry encompasses creating solutions to challenges through practical application of understandings and skills. This includes processes to get from what is known to discover what is unknown. When teachers show students how to solve a challenge and then assign additional challenges that are similar, the students are not constructing new knowledge through application, but merely practising. Both are necessary elements of skill building in robotics, but one should not be confused with the other. If the path for getting to the end situation has already been determined, it is no longer problem solving. Students must understand this difference as well.
Creating Questions for Inquiry in Robotics
Teachers and students can begin their inquiry at one or more entry points; however, the process may evolve into learning opportunities across disciplines, as reflective of the holistic nature of our lives. It is essential to develop questions evoked by students’ interests and that have potential for rich and deep learning. Compelling questions are used to initiate and guide the inquiry, and give students direction for discovering deep understandings about a topic or issue under study.
The process of constructing inquiry questions can help students to grasp the important disciplinary ideas situated at the core of a particular curricular focus or context. These broad questions will lead to more specific questions that can provide a framework, purpose, and direction for the learning activities in a lesson or project, and help students connect what they are learning to their experiences and life beyond school.
Effective questions in robotics are the key to initiating and guiding students’ investigations, critical thinking, problem solving, and reflection on their own learning. Questions such as:
· What is the best solution to have your robot solve a maze?
· How can you program your robot to turn 900?
The above are only a few examples of questions to move students’ inquiry towards deeper understanding. Effective questioning is essential for teaching and student learning, and should be an integral part of planning. Questioning should also be used to encourage students to reflect on the inquiry process and on the documentation and assessment of their own learning.
Questions should invite students to explore concepts within a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes. When questioning students, teachers should choose questions that:
· encourage students to make use of the knowledge and skills of the discipline
· are open-ended, whether in answer or approach, and there may be multiple answers or multiple approaches
· empower students to explore their curiosity and unravel their misconceptions
· not only require the application of skills but encourage students to make connections and are applicable to new situations
· lead students to wonder more about a topic and to perhaps construct new questions themselves as they investigate this newly found interest
(Adapted from Schuster & Canavan Anderson, 2005, p. 3)
Reflection and Documentation of Inquiry
An important part of any inquiry process is student reflection on their learning and the documentation needed to assess the learning and make it visible. Student documentation of the inquiry process in robotics may take the form of reflective journals, notes, drafts, models, projects, photographs, or video footage. This documentation should illustrate the students’ strategies and thinking processes that led to new insights and conclusions. Inquiry-based documentation can be a source of rich assessment materials through which teachers can gain a more in-depth look into their students’ understandings.
It is important students engage in the communication and representation of their progress in building skills and understandings. A wide variety of forms of communication and representation should be encouraged and, most importantly, have links made between them. In this way, student inquiry can develop and strengthen student understanding through self-reflection.
Outcomes
Learning outcomes are the major, general statements that guide what each student is expected to
achieve for the modules of any curriculum. They indicate the most important knowledge, skills, attitudes/values, and abilities for a student to learn in a subject. Robotics 10 Outcomes and the Common Essential Learnings (CELs) are included in this document. Some of these statements may be repeated or enhanced in different modules for emphasis.
• To understand basic terminology related to robotics.
• To use, maintain, and operate simple robots, constructed from pre-formed kits.
• To understand the processes and participate in the construction and programming of robots from said kits.
• To be aware of career and job opportunities in the robotics industry.
• To recognize, value, and develop personal skills and abilities that apply to the workplace.
• To understand and practise safety in the operation of robots.
• To apply independent learning skills, decision-making, communication, and cooperation.
• To be creative when planning, constructing, programming and operating robots.
• To identify and evaluate personal qualities related to career choices in technological industries.
Course Modules
Module / Suggested Time (Hours)Module One: Introduction to Robotics (IR) / 3 – 5
Module Two: Use of Motors and Servos (MS) / 10 – 15
Module Three: Use of Ultrasonic Sensors (US) / 10 – 15
Module Four: Use of Rotation\Gyro Sensors (RG) / 10 – 15
Module Five: Use of Colour\Light Sensors (CL) / 10 – 15
Module Six: Use of Touch Sensors (TS) / 10 – 15
Module Seven: Use of Use of Multiple Sensors and Motors (MM) / 10 – 15
Module Eight: Final Challenge (FC) / 10 – 15
Module One: Introduction to Robotics (IR)
Suggested Time: 3 – 5 hours / Level: Introductory
Outcome / Indicators
IR10.1 Recognize and use basic robotic terminology / a. Review how robotics are used in industry
b. Identify uses of robotics in daily life
Module Two: Use of Motors and Servos (MS)
Suggested Time: 10 – 15 hours / Level: Introductory
Outcome / Indicators
MS10.1 Develop a general idea of how motors and servos work / a. Describe how a motor or servo works
b. List various uses of motors and servos
MS10.2 Build a basic robot / a. Explore how to attach mechanical and electrical components
b. Develop skills to move robot in all directions
MS10.3 Explore how to use motors and servos to move a robot / a. Use motors to propel or guide a robot
b. Construct a robot that can drive forwards, backwards, and steer via external controls
c. Program a robot for motion
d. Modify programs to achieve given parameters
e. Move a robot in a desired pattern
MS10.4 Explore how to use motors and servos to accomplish a specific task / a. Construct a robot to accomplish a specific task
b. Program a robot to accomplish a specific task
c. Program a robot to move in all directions and return to starting point
d. Justify to peers and teacher why selected designs were used to accomplish specific tasks
Module Three: Use of Ultrasonic Sensors (US)
Suggested Time: 10 – 15 hours / Level: Intermediate
Outcome / Indicators
US10.1 Acquire a theoretical understanding of ultrasonic sensors and their applications / a. Describe how an ultrasonic sensor finds objects
b. Investigate the mathematics behind how an ultrasonic sensor works
c. Explain the applications of ultrasonic sensors in robotics