Last month, the Robogals Global team had a mini get-together to watch the New Inventors’ Robots Special episode on ABC1, and only realized something was off towards the end of the episode! We soon received news that the program producers had rescheduled the screening to this Wednesday March 16.
Our sincere apologies for the unforeseen circumstances and perhaps disappointment. We hope you will still tune in to ABC1 tomorrow at 8pm to catch the fun and sumo robot showdown!
Meanwhile, the Robogals EU/UK SINE (Seminars Inducting New Executive-committee) sailed by smoothly from February 11-13, welcoming four new chapters from Leeds, Sheffield, Zurich and Delft.
In this issue, we have two chapter presidents who attended the event share with us some thoughts about their recent SINE experience
Expose Young Ones to Engineering Early
Written by Aoife Nic Chraith, President, Robogals Dublin
[Editor's Note: Since we discussed the issue of 'measuring impact' in the last edition; after the EU/UK SINE, we are lucky to have Aoife share with us her thoughts about her previous extensive insight and research into promoting engineering to young students.]
Last month, six young engineering students flew from Trinity College Dublin to Manchester in order to meet with Robogals chapters from all over the world at the SINE 2011!
Trinity College Dublin has had established experience in the field of attracting students to engineering, with a great many initiatives, projects and team leaders actively participating in the field. One such leader is Mr. Kevin Kelly, the Programme Director of Engineering with Management in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Kevin has spearheaded many initiatives, including multiple final year projects with 4th-year-students of mechanical engineering. What's interesting is that these projects aim to develop the educational syllabus for students (both pre-college and tertiary education) such that they attract these students to study engineering. It was through one of these projects that I first came to work with Kevin.
For my final year project, I chose to use LEGO Mindstorms to promote engineering as a career choice for students. My basis for the project was that of active learning – the concept that students show a far greater tendency in learning and retaining theory once they understand the relevance of a task. I questioned 'why do students detest learning theorems, equations and definitions?' and yet 'why would they be more than happy to compete with each other as to who could remember the correct step combinations for Dance Dance Revolution??'.
The primary objectives of my study were to: (a) Design and test a coursework syllabus to be integrated to the secondary school syllabus, with an aim to promote engineering, and (b) Develop a base design for a demonstration model for use at college open days and presentations for primary and secondary level institutions.
Most importantly, the coursework syllabus was designed to work in conjunction with the current science course for students between the ages of 11 and 16. It aimed to introduce the basic theory of physics and engineering, and to then reinforce this learning with the practical application of the concepts through the use of LEGO Mindstorms toolkits. The course was designed to develop the students' ability to identify goals, develop potential designs and to implement these design models in order to achieve the goals identified.
I started my research with an investigation of students' opinion of engineering, looking into the main factors attracting or dissuading them from choosing the field for their tertiary level education. In addition, I looked into sources from which the students were initially presented with their view of engineering. Based on these results, the initial plans for a Transition Year coursework syllabus were developed, with an emphasis on highlighting the creative aspect of problem solving, as opposed to the difficulty.
The potential assignment designs were initially tested with a class of 20 students from the Centre for Talented Youth in Ireland (aged between 7 and 11). The assignments which received the most positive reaction from the students were then re-defined through a short session with two second level students (aged 16). The finalized course was then carried out fully with a female Transition Year (16 years old) class.
The resulting feedback for the courses from students, teachers and parents was phenomenal – with students showing a huge new-found interest in engineering. The Transition Year coursework is now under review by the FIRST LEGO League here in Ireland with a view to introduce it to schools around the country. As for the girls themselves, their opinion of the syllabus and teaching methods were monitored throughout the course. These opinions were also compared to how they feel about their standard science lessons at school. Test results were overwhelmingly in favour of the LEGO Mindstorms lessons! At the end of the course, the students took part in a short test, with test questions on topics which had been reinforced using active learning with the Mindstorms, versus topics which had only been taught through the standard method. Needless to say, the students scored far higher on the subject matter which they had used active learning with their Mindstorms!
But the most important aspect of this study was the impact this coursework had on the participating students. At the beginning of the course only 5 of the 18 students present were considering the possibility of choosing to study engineering at university, while at the end of the coursework the number increased to 9! It became clear that this active learning approach is one of the most effective methods of attracting young students to study engineering!
With such motivating results from my study, I hope to apply these findings well in running Dublin's Robogals chapter! At the moment I'm still working on setting ourselves up with an excellent group of students here at Trinity College. The impact of the aforementioned courses have us looking forward to seeing more girls in the engineering departments here!
From the EU/UK SINE with Love
Written by Sarah Griffiths, President, Robogals Leeds
After receiving an email about Robogals from my lecturer, I was amazed at what a great opportunity I was getting myself into! I applied, and before I knew it, I was on a train to Manchester, unaware of how many amazing women I was about to meet.
Arriving in Manchester, I found my way to the University and eventually to the room where the rest of the group were waiting. After briefly chatting to a few of the other girls and finding out just how far some had travelled, we were all given our t-shirts, before the activities began. The first task was to disassemble and reassemble a LEGO robot. It was so much fun and after a slight panic, when I dropped pieces on the floor, my group emerged with a working robot! We then worked to create dancing robots and showed them to the other groups.
After a busy day of meeting new people and finding out the basics of Robogals, we had a tour of Manchester and its science and engineering museum. The festivities didn't stop there! We went on to a Greek restaurant and spent the night with more chatting! It was just such a rare but marvellous opportunity for me to get to know all of the other girls.
The next day included presentations from the old chapters; I found it really interesting and great to see just how much they had all achieved in the past year. IT training next, and learning exactly what Robogals was all about, with a very inspiring talk by Robogals founder Marita Cheng, which helped new chapters learn all about the group they were joining and what was expected. Role specific training helped me to learn exactly how to perform my role well – it was great to be able to bounce ideas off other chapter presidents to find the best ways to set up and run our chapters!
Sunday reeled in the final day of the SINE. As a large group of very tired, but still very enthusiastic girls, we brainstormed and discussed a wide range of ideas for raising awareness of Robogals, keeping chapter volunteers happy and most important of all, how to promote engineering to young girls. We did this using random objects (including a vibrating sheep!) to come up with all the different possibilities that could be thought of.Loads of amazing ideas were brought up; so many that I would never have thought of by myself, showing the importance of teamwork and previous experience. After this, both future global and chapter goals were discussed – overall, the coming year looks like it's going to be hard work but very fun and worthwhile!
Awards were giving to different chapters for what they had achieved over the weekend and past year; Leeds won a prize for being the most ambitious chapter! Group pictures were taken – a helpful reminder of such a memorable weekend! And then goodbyes were said to some chapters, while the rest of us headed up to Old Trafford for a tour of Manchester United football club's stadium – a really nice end to the weekend.
I came home from this weekend tired, but excited about the future of the Leeds chapter (which I am currently really enjoying setting up with my fantastic friends). I'm definitely looking forward to an action-packed year this semester. The SINE was an experience of a lifetime and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Volunteer Profile
Shu Jie Lam
Robogals Global
What do you study?
I am currently in my third year, studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical and Biomolecular) at the University of Melbourne.
Why Engineering?
Before I came to Australia for foundation studies, engineering was never on my list of possible career pathways. I wasn't exposed to engineering and held the common misconception that engineering is for boys. I was so wrong! Since Chemistry and Mathematics were my favourite subjects in high school, a family friend suggested Chemical Engineering to me. After months of research and asking around, my mindset changed from "Why engineering?" to "Why not engineering?".
Since then, never for once have I regretted choosing this career path. I was, and constantly am, amazed by how engineers are responsible for almost everything that we consume or encounter in our daily lives! It is exciting to see how engineers make a difference and create a better world through their problem solving skills. The fact that an engineering degree leads to a vast number of career opportunities was also one of the reasons that attracted me to study engineering.
What have you done with Robogals?
I joined Robogals at the end of last year as the Project Manger for the Robogals Rural and Regional programme. Currently, I am spearheading this project which seeks to expand Robogals' cause to regional Australia. My basic roles involve collaborating with universities and Engineers Australia regional chapters, setting up leadership training weekends for students from rural and regional areas and mentoring them while they are setting up Robogals-themed events all across Victoria.
What was the biggest highlight?
So far, the biggest highlight for me was when an engineering lecturer from Ballarat told me that our idea (i.e. Robogals Rural and Regional) was "beautiful" and capable of addressing the needs of rural and regional Australia. It was an incident that made me truly believe in what I am doing and acted as a confidence booster for me!
What are your dreams and goals for the future?
I aim to pursue a career in engineering, either by becoming an engineer or working in academia. Regardless of which pathway I choose, I would like to make an impact on the world by turning ideas into reality. On a sidenote, I would love to travel to as many places as I can!
What are your hobbies outside study and Robogals?
I love crime fiction, recipe books, baking, movies, swimming, travelling and outdoor adventures.
Partners
The Amplifier is the official newsletter of Robogals, collating articles written by our chapters all around the world for the benefit of Robogals members, supporting faculty, partners, sponsors and anyone else interested in following our activities.
Editor: Jia Choong
Typesetter: Hamish Graham
Enquiries: media@robogals.org
Website: www.robogals.org
Postal Address:
Robogals Global
PO Box 4435
Parkville VIC 3052
Australia
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