In our Arts & Bots program, we aim to infuse the basics of coding and robotics in non-traditional content areas to expose more students to the joys of computer science (CS). How do you think we can better create cross-curricular CS projects in schools while still helping students become creators through technology instead of consumers of technology?

Hi Brett and Sue,
I like the model of having teachers come up with CS-related projects in their content area. Who better to identify CS connections to other subjects than teachers who teach those other subjects?

How do interested teachers get the necessary materials to implement an Arts & Bots project in their classrooms?

Also, is there any kind of online platform for teachers to share the projects they’ve implemented? It seems to me that if teachers could see examples of what has been done, more new ideas for cross-curricular projects might be sparked. Teachers could also share stories about specific implementations.

Katie, I agree! As a non-CS teacher, I love having the creative outlet to explore new areas and methods of engaging my students in learning. It also gives me the opportunity to use my unique Health and Physical Education perspective to look for STEM talent traits that might go unnoticed by other subject areas.

To attempt to not sound like a sales-man, teachers can easily get involved in an Arts & Bots projects by getting their hands on some Hummingbird kits at http://www.hummingbirdkit.com/. The kits are affordable, durable, and reusable, which is pretty essential to long term implementation of a project like this. We use these kits because they are a local company that was actually developed through CMU. As an aside, one of the great things about being an educator in Pittsburgh, PA right now is how connected public ed, informal ed, higher ed and local businesses/foundations are. So local involvement has been one of the key success to our project.

As far as a sharing platform goes, the same website above has lessons and projects online that they curate to spark the creative flame for educators.

Hi Presenters, I loved how the dioramas integrated paper engineering and set design in addition to the computational components. Over what time period were the student projects made? Was there ?any evidence of deeper content learning as a result of the integration of CT

In response to Irene’s question, we spend one week of double period (42 minutes a period for a total of 84 daily minutes) English Language Arts on the poetry and Shakespeare projects. Some of this time is very ELA core content time in which a planning document is completed. The planning document requires analysis of literature with brainstorming ways to symbolize the words using art and robotics. Some of the time is very much a journey into the engineering process as students encounter difficulties in making their ideas operational. Finally, some of the time is CS related as the students work to program their robotic creation’s LEDs and motors to accompany a recorded reading of the literature. The timing element of the programming can be quite a challenge for middle school students. We use Audacity to program the readings.

With our 7th grade social studies projects (two of my favorites—-Greek Gods and Natural Wonders/Man-made Wonders of the World), the amount of time is very similar. In place of a poem or a scene from Romeo & Juliet, the students are assigned a topic. The social studies planning document has a place to put research notes and requires a written narrative. The narrative is then recorded with Audacity. As the diorama operates, the recorded narrative is played documentary like with LEDs and various motors moving in a planned fashion.

A final note on our projects is that the students work in teams. We find that a team of three works the best.

I love project based work with students and I believe that the Arts & Bots projects in ELA can be a means for greater understanding of the literature. For the social studies projects, I find the Arts & Bots can serve as a welcome change to posters and PowerPoint for displaying research. Additionally, I believe that hands-on learning meets the needs of active middle school students. However, I do find some teachers believe these projects are a departure from curriculum. I am interested in learning other’s thoughts about project based/hands-on work and core content curriculum.

Brett,
Your example of using robotics to help kids understand complementary muscle movement is so interesting! Do you think that building the 3D model, rather than programming a 2D simulation on screen, is an important factor?

What do others think about this issue in general? What are the advantages and costs of building 3D models like those in this project versus programming simulations in something like Scratch?

Just to add to Brett’s answer, we build our dioramas in ELA and social studies from donated materials or things that are usually discarded. The randomness of the supplies seems to spark creativity.

In ELA and social studies, we see elaborate ideas for building robotic systems in our planning documents. The actual attempt to make their design a reality gives many students a greater appreciation for the design process. It is one thing to write that a motor will spool a fishing line to pull an object and quite another to make it happen exactly as planned.

This looks like so much fun — I love the variety of projects.

What does the PD look like for teachers? Is this something you hope to scale? Assuming yes, how do you go about doing so?

Thanks for the question, Evan. We have been involved in a variety of professional development endeavors as both presenters and attendees. The most important aspect of professional development is giving teachers the opportunity to use the kits to build and to program.