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LEGO WeDo

LEGO WeDo. with Kim Chandler and Steve Coxon. Description. LEGO WeDo provides an opportunity for students ages 6-9 to create working robots using LEGO bricks, motors, and sensors. Students write programs to tell their robot what to do.

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LEGO WeDo

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  1. LEGO WeDo withKim ChandlerandSteve Coxon

  2. Description • LEGO WeDo provides an opportunity for students ages 6-9 to create working robots using LEGO bricks, motors, and sensors. • Students write programs to tell their robot what to do. • For example, students may create an alligator whose mouth closes when a motion sensor detects a finger.

  3. WeDo instructions

  4. Features • The LEGO WeDo not only includes the usual bricks, but also has gears, rubber bands, string, sensors, and motors. • This allows for inclusion of simple machines, mobility, engineering, and creative problem solving. • Students write programs using an easy-to-learn, drag-and-drop block programming language. • Programming is a great opportunity for students to develop logical thinking and problem solving skills.

  5. WeDo programming screen shot

  6. Available research • Coxon (2009): A potential way to provide appropriate challenge for the spatially gifted • Coxon (2010): Students involved in the year’s science theme can become active researchers, turning it into a tangible and meaningful inquiry experience that can then be shared with a real world audience. • Melchior, Cutter, and Cohen (2004): 94% or more of all students participating in FIRST LEGO League had increases in interest in STEM, programming skills, problem-solving skills, teamwork skills, and leadership skills. • Waks and Merdler (2003): designing, building, and programming a LEGO robot pushes students’ spatial reasoning and creative problem solving abilities. • Petre and Price (2004): Effective understanding of programming and engineering principles. • Geeter, Golder, and Nordin (2002): Middle school students competing in FLL gained a better understanding of engineering; improved creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills; and increased self-confidence levels, interest, and involvement in science and math. • Williams, Ma, Prejean, Ford, and Lai (2007): Physics content knowledge was improved in a study of robotics in a middle school summer program.

  7. Educational applications • Force, Motion, and Energy, including simple machines (SOLs: 1.2, 3.2, 4.2, 4.5) • Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic, including measurement and the scientific method (SOLs K.1, 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1) • Senses (SOL K.2) • Ecosystems (SOLs K.6, 1.4, 1.7, 2.4, 2.5, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.9, 3.10, ) • Engineering and spatial skill building • Logic of computer programming (e.g., repeat loops)

  8. Affordances • Great tutorials to learn how to build and program with WeDo. • Engaging because it is real world. Kids consider it playing, learning as they play. • Actually hands-on: You can touch it. • The building component: three-dimensional. • Challenges spatial abilities, which are correlated with STEM success. • Interdisciplinary: Integrating several subjects to resolve the problems. • Incorporated REAL WORLD problem solving and having work in pairs including problem solving. • This is the type of activity that adult scientists do. • Appeals to kids who are into gaming so they can see behind the scenes • Introduces kids to the logic of computer programming • The skills can be transferred. -CRIN 604 2010 class

  9. Constraints • Cost • Hard to align it to the curriculum • Very difficult... learning curve • Needs more direct instruction and guided practice • Could ONLY be done in the classroom • Organization of all of the pieces • Classroom management • Teacher needs to have some kind of knowledge of programming. -CRIN 604 2010 class

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