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| 2008 High School Summer Camp-Coordinator Kelli
High School Summer Camp July 21, 2008 - written by Kelli Hall The High School Robotics Academy took place June 16 thru June 20. We had 7 students out of the 10 applicants to attend. I believe that the seven students we had, learned a lot of the week long academy, hopefully sparking more interest in them in the computer science field. The academy was 5 days long, each day with 2 robotics labs and a web design lab or a Scratch lab. Day One The students learned the very basics of the Intellibrain robot, the Java programming language, RoboJDE, and html. Many of the students grasped onto the html idea quickly and began making their web pages. In the Cookies 'n Chat break, we had the ever charismatic Brenda Williams speak to the participants about the business aspect of computer science. They were all very attentive and had as many questions as the INSPIRED members! As the day drew to an end, It was clear it would be difficult to pull them away from anything that allowed them the freedom to do what they wanted. Day Two The students started off day two learning how to make the robot drive, delving deeper into Java. They were still learning to grasp the concept of the programming but once they figured out what to change to make the robot do something different, it was, again, difficult to pull them away from their project for the Scratch lab. They loved Scratch. It was harder to pull them away from that than making the robots move. But we eventually got them on break with delicious chocolate chip cookies and a walk. After a hot tour around campus, we all came back into the much needed AC and learned how to make the robot move in all directions. We also had part two of the web lab, going even deeper into html, learning how to stylize their websites. And at the end of the day, a few even stayed after to work on their sites or Scratch projects. Day Three Day three started the students learning about the sensors and how to use them. As with technology, there were problems getting the sensors to work despite making sure they worked prior to the day. Eventually we got them all working, though not without recurring problems. The students were able to get the robots to move and react to what the sensors read before the break. Cookies 'n Chat on day three was with the wonderful Julie Ferguson, who spoke about computer science in the medical field. I was particularly interested as I've done a bit of research in the topic previously. There many questions again since a few of the students had wanted to be in the medical field as a career, as we learned the first day. Then we had the photoshoot where many great pictures were taken. Everyone looked great in them. After the break, the students learned about the last sensor, the photo reflector sensor. That was a rather shoot session so we moved onto the basics of Frontpage, the continuation of the Web lab. The students found this easier and more efficient and the creativity of the websites skyrocketed. After they worked for a good bit of time, we ended the day, preparing for the next. Day Four Day four... was the toughest day. That was the day they learned conditions and loops, something even I'm not very good at. They followed along carefully, trying to grasp everything they could about the statements they were now using to make the robots behave. As they finished up rather quickly, we had an early-ish Cookies 'n Chat with the energetic Linda Koetter. She told us all about computer science on campus. There weren't as many questions as she explained everything that we may have had a question on. She's a very knowledgable woman with some of the best energy I've ever seen. It was a pleasure and a delight to have her come speak to the students. After the break, the students continued learning the conditions and loops and after that continued their websites and journals in Frontpage or Scratch project until the end of the day. Day Five The last day of the academy was definitely one of the most fun days we had. They put everything they learned over the week and applied to making the robot successfully go through a maze and stopping only when it gets to the black strip finish line. After working the first part of the day, the students have the pleasure of getting to talk to the guy from admissions (and when I remember his name, I'll fill that in). They were all wondering if they qualified for scholarships. It was pretty fun getting to know what was available for first-time students. After the break, the competitions began. After all doing all their final tweaks on their robots, the each put their robots to the test, hoping it makes its way through the maze and stops on the black finish line. There were a couple of successful runs, a few quirky odd runs that still finished, and a few unsuccessful attempts. Then we moved onto the Scratch and Web lab competitions, seeing the students projects that were very creative, brightly colored, and unique to each one. The Scratch projects... were very unique, interesting, and some, very funny. After viewing all of them, the student and INSPIRED team voted and in the end the students were given cerfiticates of participation and if they won an award, they got a 1st or 2nd place certificate. At the end of the day, the student left happy and hopefully thinking of computer science as a career option. I believe that the academy was a huge success and that next year, we'll be seeing some of the students again. I want to thank the participants, the INSPIRED team, the NSF, and our leaders, Dr. Doerschuk and Dr. Liu for making this academy a success. ~Kelli Hall, coordinator~ Certificates |
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