J. Kim, et al., “
Pre-College Robotics: Best Practices for Adapting Research to Outreach,” in
2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition., Baltimore, MD, 2023, 2023.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
Adapting research for K-12 outreach is critical for inspiring the next generation of engineers. Community-focused STEM fairs and events attract a wide range of students with varying degrees of knowledge and exposure to engineering. The challenge when creating programming for these events is the ability to adapt research for young students with a wide range of engineering backgrounds. Adding to the complexity, engineers are not trained teachers, therefore outreach events can often contain overly complex activities that do not take a student’s dexterity or comprehension skills into consideration. Understanding students’ abilities and interests are critical to developing pre-college curricula that are engaging for a variety of students. In this project, we present findings from an observational study conducted at a community-focused outreach event with over 200 participants. This paper is focused on a soft robot gripper activity consisting of two tendon-actuated fingers and its utility as an outreach tool. In the activity, students must navigate various tests of dexterity and comprehension. Observations from these tests were used to record successes and pain points of the activity design. The data collected during the activity was organized into several categories based on age, dexterity, and spatial awareness. After collecting and analyzing data, we identified areas of improvement for wide dissemination of this soft gripper activity. We also categorized prior activities that lead to a successful gripper build. Overall results showed areas where the soft robotics activity could be improved to be more inclusive of a variety of skill and age levels.
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