SAAST Robotics: An Intensive Three Week Robotics Program for High School Students

摘要

We have designed an intensive, three-week robotics program for high school students that combines theory with hands-on practical experience in cutting edge technologies. Conventional approaches to engineering education are bottom-up. Students are first taught the basics and are then courses that build on the basics. Most students do not take coursework on engineering applications, particularly design and systems engineering, until the end of the curriculum. This has the disadvantage of not exposing students to the excitement in engineering until late in the curriculum. Our goal is to develop a top-down curriculum in which students are introduced first to the applications and systems concepts which then leads to the teaching of fundamentals. This approach has the potential to recruit and retain students in engineering while making the curriculum more relevant and rigorous.