1 Project Oriented Learning as a Tool of Preparing Students for International Robot Competitions Irene Kipnis, MA Golda Meir High School Eli Kolberg, PhD. Faculty of Engineering Bar-Ilan University

Project oriented learning  Project Oriented Learning (POL) or Project-Problem- Product-Process-People Based Learning (P5BL) is a teaching method, where small group of students are actively engaged in trying to solve real-life problems  In some cases the needed knowledge is not easily available, they realize that the environment might change and learn how to interact with one another as a team 2

Why POL?  The large POL family is identifiably by the idea that a project has a center-stage role  “Project are tasks of research and development which are limited in time and with which students are introduced to the contents and method of the subject and to autonomous work (Burdewick,2003)  Central aspects of POL according Burdewick (2003) are: o Working autonomously o Practical relevance o Learning of soft skills o Cooperation and practice 3

Why POL? Prolux (2004) identifies the following features: o A systematic process (i.e. a project is done in stages and needs some “system”) o Acquisition and transfer of learning o Anticipation, planning, implementation (the three major moments) o Under supervision of a teacher o An observable activity o Leading to a final product that can be evaluated 4

Why POL?  Working with project may lead to increased motivation that can have a positive effect on learning  This applies in particular to projects that have a practical relevance and that students can identify as “their project”  Working on tangible “product” that takes “shape” yields feeling of success which in turn boosts motivation  Project engage learners to connect knowledge, including prior knowledge  Therefore projects are important component of constructivist approaches 5

POL in High School  For High School student POL engages learning in robotic project that usually lead to build autonomic robot, program it and demonstrate its performances  We will emphasis that according to our experience, the best way to implement POL is by participating in a national and international robotic contests  We will present our experience with well-known, established and prestige international robotic contest namely RoboCup Junior (RCJ)  It is intended for primary and secondary students and it takes place in close to 40 countries. 6

POL in High School RoboCup Junior contest RCJ contest includes three separated competitions: soccer, dance and rescue. Each of these competitions has its own emphasis and goals. However, in all of these competitions the robots must be autonomous. 7

8 POL in High School  Among the objectives of POL are develop and support of:  Design of autonomous robots  Building and implementing practical robots  Communication skills  Project management skills  Self-learning  Problem solving, negotiating with mentors, teachers, parents, experts, etc.  Acquiring and implementing new knowledge, work within a team, and more

9 POL in High School  High school students seldom learn how to work in teams for completion of a complex project  In addition, they do not acquire problem solving skills  A project fulfills the requirement of a specification that was approved by a superior or a customer and usually does not have a single “right” solution  It has time restrictions, covers several disciplines, requires cooperation between groups of peoples, and exists only once  Moreover, it involves the students in making decisions, judgments and compromises  It gives full expression to the strongest elements in active, constructivist learning theory  Students share ideas, tasks, and accept ideas of others

POL in High School- Change in teacher’s role  The teacher should become the one that advances the learning process, need to be aware of the importance of advancing teamwork in the class, and be familiar with the components of teamwork and the methods of teaching them to the students  Teach the students how to work as teams, develop skills that are related to inter personal relations within a team, decision-making modes, leadership development, leadership acceptance, and integration within the group  Change evaluation methods  Team achievements and students’ function within their team should be the emphasis during the learning process 10

Preparing for Robot Competitions  In many cases the team is divided into two sub-groups: a hardware sub-group and a software sub-group  A team leader is responsible for the integration of these two sub-groups  They both need to work in close coordination and cooperation from the beginning since various decisions has to take into account issues from both teams, like the robot size, components placement, driving/steering mechanism, sensors specifications and placement, robots behavior, and more 11

Preparing for Robot Competitions teamwork Hardware sub-group o Selecting the proper driving-steering configuration and mechanisms o Designed the robot movements o Designing the sensors' setup and configuration Software sub-group o Designed robot behavior o Avoiding other robots, students or other obstacle o Deriving algorithms for figure robot localization o Dictated constraints on the robot structure 12

Preparing for Robot Competitions teamwork Team- integration of these two sub-groups The issues they faced extended from: o Designing robot size, components placement o Designing the sensors' setup and configuration o Fault tolerance issues like, what if one sensor become damaged? o Taking measures to solve contradicting situations like turning left while the controller instruction is turn right o And many more The creativity the students present, is related to both hardware and building, and software algorithms, using innovative ideas. 13

Preparing for Robot Competitions No matter which one of the three contests the teams participate in, team members must : o Analyze carefully the set of the suitable rules, o Understand unequivocally all limitations and restrictions, translate it to a requirements list, o Divide the list into hardware and software missions, o Go from a conceptual design through a detailed design, building phase and all the way up to a final robot 14

Robot Competitions  The major goal of RoboCup Junior Contest is the last day contest names “Super Team”  “Super Team” contest turn regular robotic competitions into International collaboration through educational robotics  Super Team is a RoboCup Junior International opportunity to produce a spontaneous performance by cooperating with the several teams  A Super Team consists of two to three teams from different countries  All teams will have an opportunity to compete in the Super Team Tournament 15

Robot Competitions  RoboCup Junior embraces teamwork and collaboration among team members, a team should have more than one member to form a RoboCup Junior team to participate in the International event  Participants of this challenge are required to give the best of their abilities in programming, robotics, electronics and mechatronics, but also to contribute on teamwork and knowledge sharing with other participants, regardless of culture, age or result in the competition  All are expected to compete, learn, have fun and grow up 16

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