Technology Skills Competition - Constructivist Approach


For the past two days I have had an opportunity to observe our students competing in the Technology Skills Competition. Students work in teams of 4 in the areas of Lego Mechanics, Robotics, Technology and Video Editing to design, and create projects that can overcome specific challenges. For example, using software they program a robot that is capable of using environmental stimuli to determine the correct course of action to achieve a task (i.e. the robot travels along a specified path and determines if the wall in front of it is a particular color, depending on the color it needs to turn either left of right to continue along the path until it reaches the final destination.) Using legos they construct a vehicule that is capable of climbing three different stages on a ramp and knocking over a final target.

The students have an opportunity to create an initial design, test it and then make modifications before they submit their project for final evaluation. The entire process is student driven and is a good example of a constructivist approach to learning which enagages students in authentic problem solving and critical thinking. It was very rewarding to listen to the dialogue of the teams as they tested their designs and discussed how they could be improved in order to overcome the challenge. Not only is this a fantastic and fun way for the kids to learn, but it helps to build their confidence. The students were so proud and had such a sense of achievement when they got their projects to work.

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