Teacher's Notes: Organizing the course with students -

There are some fundamental rules that we advise you to follow while organizing this course with students. Let's look at them.

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06 Jan 2017
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Get to know one another

If the group has new members, make sure everyone introduces themselves. That is compulsory at the first level. Sometimes, at the second or higher levels, new students might join the course, and you will have to follow the same procedure as well. The most common things to share are name, age, school, favorite sports, and after-class activities.

The teacher should start and shortly introduce himself the way it is expected from students.

Names

During the introduction session, ask the students to repeat the name of the speaker, after he/she has finished.

After the introduction session, check whether you have remembered the names of all students by repeating them aloud.

Establish a connection with students

Students will feel the teacher close if the teacher shares and understands their interests. When there is a friendly environment in the classroom, students will surely do what their teacher expects from them .

You can establish such a connection as early as during the introduction session. When students say something about their hobby, comment on it and ask a follow-up question.

If a student shares that they play computer games, ask which games so that you can share the names of the games you play or so that the other students can know they have common interests.
If a student shares they do some sport, ask them for the style they practice or the post they take in team sports.
When talking about sports, you can also ask about the student’s achievements - participation in competitions, cups, medals, etc.

When students say something you can relate to, use that opportunity -

“I also play Minecraft, and our school has its server”;
“When I play football, I am usually the goalkeeper“;
“When I play volleyball, I prefer to be the libero.”

In that way students will relate to you and you will become some sort of friends.

Keep stories related to the topic

Students may also share a story or achievement about a thing no one has done but related to science or school.
Be careful - such stories may take a lot of time in the first lesson, and you should better stick to hobbies.
If you still think your students may share unrelated stories, guide them. Otherwise, inappropriate stories may ruin the discipline which is unacceptable, especially in the first lesson.

English

There are a couple of things very important things you as an instructor should know when starting this course for robotics and the way you do the course with a group of students. So let's stop at some of them and you can read more about them in the description below.

The first and probably most important thing is to break the ice in the group. It's very important for the students to know each other, to know their names. It is also very important for you to know their names, their age, something interesting about the student. So we've prepared a list with a number of ice breaking games. Games that you can use. Of course you can think of other games that you from your experience know that work. But it's very important to first break the ice in the group.

Courses and lessons with this Tutorial

This Tutorial is used in the following courses and lessons

EV3 Phi. Introduction to robotics with LEGO Mindstorms

The things that you will be able to do with your EV3 robot by the end of this course are:

Freely move your robot towards desired target;
Avoid obstacles on the path of your robot using sensors;
Follow lines of any shape;
Detecting and picking up objects of any kind;

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Build community in the classroom

In this course, you will work with other students in the group. These might be your classmates, teammates, or students you know from other activities. It is important to know your group so that you can work together with them in the best possible way.

Robotics with LEGO - Level 1.0 - Adventure in Space

The first level of the Robotics with LEGO curriculum for students in fifth to twelfth grades.

Various constructions with robots are built. Learn how to control the motors so that the robot navigates around the Moon and Earth in various ways. Getting to know the first two sensors. The robot can feel its surroundings with the help of the Touch sensor and avoid obstacles.
The Ultrasonic distance sensor can help the robot avoid obstacles. Students work with concepts like loop, degrees and medium motor. Robots can now do two different actions at the same time - while solving missions on a field, the third motor clears detected obstacles.

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Getting to know how these classes work

Your LEGO sets and the workplaces must be in exemplary shape. Beyond that, you must do one more thing.

Level A1. Introduction. Robotics with LEGO

Introduction to robotics - The first level of the Robotics with LEGO curriculum for students in second, third or fourth grades. A journey in space, with robots. Various constructions with robots are built. Learn how to control the motors so that the robot navigates around the Sun, the Moon and Earth in various ways. Getting to know the first of the sensors. The robot can feel its surroundings with the help of the Touch sensor and avoid obstacles.

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Understanding the learning process

Students have a limited attention span. Try to engage them in various activities so that you can keep their attention focused during the two-hour class.

Python with LEGO Mindstorms EV3 - Level 1

The course introduces students to the programming language Python. We use LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Robots. Python is a popular programming language. It could be used for introducing students to programming, for academic studies, for developing machine learning algorithms and as a general-purpose language.

During the course, students learn how to read and how to develop Python programs. They use an Integrated Development Environment called Visual Studio Code. Robots are programmed to perform interesting and funny tasks like "bringing you water". The level ends with competition on a playing field with boxes.

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Getting to know the learning process and the people in the room

Your LEGO sets and the workplaces must be in exemplary shape. Beyond that, you must do one more thing.

Level A1 - Space Adventure - Robotics with LEGO SPIKE Prime

This is the first level of the LEGO Robotics Curriculum for second, third, and fourth-grade students.

A "space adventure" but with robots. Different robot structures are built in Level A1. The motors are controlled so that the robots perform precise movements around the "Earth", "Moon" and "Sun". We use the force sensor to overcome various obstacles we bump into. We learn interesting facts about the solar system and space vehicles.

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Lesson 1 - Earth

[In Development] The fun level - Game-oriented introduction to LEGO robotics

A level, designed for introduction in LEGO-robotics, focused mostly on games. We use goal-oriented challenges to make the students want to accomplish a certain task, learning a lot in the process. Some of the games we have included here are football, bowling, paper-plane competition and many more. It is suitable for studens 8 to 12 years old, but even older students will have a lot of fun with the activities.

This is a brand new course that we are experimenting with in a groups in June 2019. Keep in mind that it is possible to use it for summer camps and groups, but there are a few lessons that will be improved on the fly.