Keeping Builds Together Between STEM Labs?

VEX EXP
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In a recent 1-on-1 session, we talked about how to balance the experience of building a robot with a new group (to help students feel ownership and the related responsibility) over their robot while also not spending too much time to deconstruct and reconstruct robots between each STEM Lab Unit.

Our brainstorming led us to agree that the extra time building, while taking time, can be really beneficial to students. The more they interact with the components of the kit, the more familiar they will get with the construction techniques included in each of the basic builds (BaseBot and Clawbot). We know from various research that repetition can help to move information from working memory to long term memory, so why not use that same principal in a robotics class?

I thought it was an interesting discussion and would love to know your thoughts. Do you have your students deconstruct their robots at the end of every STEM Lab? Or do you keep them together throughout the course to help possibly get to more activities?

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This is an interesting balance to strike, I think. I feel like it is also something that could change over the course of a semester or a year. If you have the same kids using the same kits over a longer period of time, frequent deconstruction and rebuilding in the beginning of their time together can help lay the foundation not only for building skills, but also for mindset. This could help students that may struggle with building iteratively to gain the practice in rebuilding that will make future iteration more comfortable. Then as the year progresses, and the goal is to expand different skill sets, keeping builds longer may work out better.

I’m curious to see what others think about this topic as well. I’m sure @Omar_Cortez and @Mark_Johnston have some great insights :slight_smile:

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