Robotics Mentoring from Upper School to Lower School

By Ariel L., '24, Fall 2022 Communications Intern

Taipei American School provides students the exposure and immense opportunities to pursue further robotics and computer science-based interests through in-school extracurricular activities and robotics programs. Not only does Taipei American School provide students with the experiences and knowledge in the field of STEAM through robotics and innovation, but also offers mentorship between peers, supporting the Lower School students’ enthusiasm and curiosity in STEAM under the guidance of Upper School Students.

The Robotics Mentoring course, offered to Upper School students, integrates the basics of robotics engineering and programming with mentorship to support Grade 5 learners in the building and programming of a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. Throughout the semester, Upper School students, enrolled in the course, assist the participating Grade 5 students in preparation for the FIRST Lego League Challenge (FFL Challenge) competition, utilizing block programming, sensors, and game strategy to approach design and programming obstacles in a collaborative process.

While satisfying the computer science graduation requirement, upper school students enroll themselves in Robotics Mentoring with an interest to work with elementary students and to engage in their learning process. The course requires no prior knowledge in robotics or programming, as enrolled students will learn basic robotics engineering and block-based coding programming with the EV3 LEGO programming platform, which is used to instruct the robots’ movements.

“The department tried to develop more programs that are cross-divisional to expand more opportunities available for US students that may influence students’ passion.” —Dr. Kiang (US Elec Sys/Info Specialist/Teacher)

Upper School students take the lead in developing new ideas for the lower school students to learn. The skill of team management is highly underscored when working with lower school students as upper school mentors take the initiatives in leadership within competing robotics groups.

The upper school Robotics Mentoring course and the lower school Robotics Club were founded as ways to start off students at a younger age to get participation in STEM increase. After attending a speaker visit of Dean Kamen, the founder of the non-profit organization FIRST, Dr. Bayntun found a relationship between mentorship and robotics.

“With more mentorship, participation in STEM increases, especially female participation. The Robotics Club enhances a larger balance in gender participation of the STEM field in upper school under the mentorship the upper school course offers that also provides more of an option to cater different personalities.” —Dr. Bayntun (US Computer Science and Robotics Teacher)

The lower school students’ opportunities in STEM participation extend further beyond just programming and design when they are in upper school, where all students are open to activities like the First Robotics and Vex Competitions.

“The goal was to find ways of starting off a younger age to get participation in STEM increase”

Soon, the FIRST Lego league Challenge will be coming up in December. We’re all looking forward to celebrating these students as their hard work throughout the semester comes to a fun fruition at this competition!