Robot Teaches Students Real-World Programming Skills

Ms. Gresham’s Classroom Robot Teaches Her Students Real-World Programming Skills

Students in Ms. Gresham’s George Ranch High School classroom in Richmond, Texas were eagerly learning computer programming skills. But Ms. Gresham, who is eager to provide her students with the best STEM learning experiences possible, wanted something more – an expandable robot, able to move and equipped with sensors, that her students could program to interact with its environment. So she chose to apply on DonorsChoose.org for funding to buy a smart robot car for her classroom.

And now, thanks to a donation from the Student Research Foundation and four other donors, she and her students have an Elegoo EL-KIT-012 UNO Project Smart Robot Car Kit V 3.0. Her students, many of whom come from low-income homes, are already learning more advanced programming skills.

Ms. Gresham Explains . . .

“Once we go over the basics of robotic programming and sensors, students will have a selection of challenges to choose from and make their robot perform. The difficulty of the challenges can be adjusted and modified to provide the appropriate level of difficulty for each student’s skill set.”

Thanks from Ms. Gresham

Dear Student Research Foundation,

Your contribution allowed the purchase of small robot kits that use an Alduino platform. The students were able to work at their own speed as they were introduced to programming. The more advanced students sped through the basics to get the robots to perform complex actions and multiple sensors as they navigated by following lines, a maze, and even the school hallways. The newcomers to programming were able to jump right in and experience the instantaneous success of seeing their robot move. They were able to learn a programming language by full immersion.

Thank you for your donation! It took a fairly dry lesson and turned it into the students’ favorite project.

With gratitude,
Ms. Gresham

Are Computer Science, Coding or Robotics Careers in Ms. Gresham’ s Students Future?

We don’t know how many of these students will explore college degrees or careers in computer science, coding or robotics but we were thrilled to play a part in bringing this opportunity to Ms. Gresham’s students to allow them to have hands-on robotics and programming experience in high school.

We look forward to writing about additional DonorsChoose.org teacher projects here on the Student Research Foundation blog. Stay tuned!

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