Mitchel Neilsen, professor in Computer Science, has obtained an NSF-RET grant to train upper elementary and middle school teachers in robotics. In June 2003, 2004 and 2005, ten teachers will be selected to participate in a four week program at KSU. In the mornings, teachers will receive instruction in Lego Mindstorms RIS and Java programming of robots. In the afternoons, the teachers will work in labs building sensors and exploring research in robotics.
Participants will be required to attend all four weeks. Housing on campus will be available. Participants will be required to provide a laptop computer that can be used for programming Mindstorm robots (Windows-based, P3 400MHz or better). Six hours of graduate credit, applicable to licensure and advanced education degrees, will be available at participant expense. Participants will be required to participate in Robot League for the year after their attendance.
Participants will receive a stipend of approximately $7000 and materials, including 2 Mindstorm RIS kits or equivalent, valued at approximately $800.
Applications will be accepted via NSF/RET website. The application period is from now until March 1, 2004. Persons accepted will be notified by March 15, 2004. Note that this is a three year program. Applicants who are not accepted this year are welcome to apply in subsequent years.
This program seeks a diverse group of teachers. Criteria for acceptance includes, but is not limited to, a desire for balance between gifted and regular teachers, urban and rural schools and at-risk and low SES populations. Decisions of the admissions committee are final. Note that the terms of the grant are clear: only active teachers in upper elementary and middle schools qualify for the stipend.
As part of this class, participants created a Power Point presentation. These presentations were put together in less than 3 days times so they should be considered working documents. However, these examples present different aspects of how real teachers plan to use robots in their classrooms.