Robotics and engineering changes your life, you will see how much your brain flourishes and makes new connections, that’s when you’ll see all you gained. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the benefits of participating in robotics. You will develop life long skills that will help you now and in the future. If you want to get into robotics to see these benefits and explore something new this is the blog for you. You will learn more about the basics of robotics and why you might be interested in jumping into STEM.
First, “why should I join a robotics team?”. The reason why you should consider joining a robotics team is the development of STEM skills, better teamwork, increased communication skills, improved problem-solving skills, and it is a way to express yourself. I personally was in a FIRST LEGO League robotics team, I felt these benefits, but don’t just take my word for it statistics show “In fact, FIRST Robotics reports that 92% of their participants aspire to attend college, making a robotics extracurricular a great opportunity to find and forge connections with peers who share your academic and career aspirations”(Crimson). This is only one static showing robotics helping students strive towards further education and knowledge to pursue their passions. Furthermore, the development of STEM skills like math and science also had been impacted substantially “ From the pretest to the posttest, students’ mathematics understanding increased 25% and their science understanding increased 47%”(Cite Journal). This conveys the many educational benefits you can receive from robotics, students’ understanding in STEM based subjects increased noticeably and these benefits are the reason you may be interested in exploring more about robotics.
Furthermore, “how will this help me in the future?”. The skills robotics helps you nurture single-handedly makes it worth it, but there are even more ways it can benefit you in the long run. Some statistics show “ Key statistics referenced include: 65% of primary school children will end up in jobs that don’t yet exist, 97% of teachers believe that edTech helps students enhance their future careers, 85% of parents and teachers report clear benefits from integrating robotics and coding into learning, and 30% of schools have been incorporating robotics into their curriculum”(3Laws). This shows that teachers can especially benefit in the future from robotics and implement that learning into class. It helps foster a space where students can explore new ideas, it promotes an environment where students can learn more about the universe and having this in place helps students explore STEM based passions. For people hunting for jobs in the job market previous FIRST participants saw benefits “Students who receive robotics education in high school are better equipped to pursue careers in engineering, computer science, and other technology-related fields. This preparation not only ensures their competitiveness in the job market but also empowers them to contribute meaningfully to a technology-driven world”(Market.us Scoop). This helps students in the future seek jobs in STEM to keep pursuing their careers.
Finally, “how do I join a robotics team?”. If you are a student you can join your school’s robotics teams which may offer programs like FIRST LEGO League, LEGO Mindstorms/SPIKE Prime, VEX, and so many more. Some other programs and more widely available are Khan Academy, Scratch, mBlock, STEMpedia, and Tynker. These programs can help you get started on your journey to exploring more about robotics ranging from coding tools to kits to help you build a robot to code on. If you do have a school robotics team it can be a great opportunity to meet like minded peers and start competing in things like FIRST LEGO League. Even if you don’t have that opportunity you can still form together with others in the community to want to learn more about robotics or want to share their passion to create a space for people to learn about coding, designing, and problem solving. If you want to compete you still can. Many programs will let form teams to participate in their challenges, similar to FIRST robotics and Vex Robotics Competition, this means you can still solve the challenges in these programs to further your understanding of robotics with your local community team.
In conclusion, robotics is something life changing and has many benefits to you in the future. I can say that if you decide to pursue STEM or robotics you will see your mind will open and flourish, it will cause you to become more open-minded and help you express your ideas. When I joined robotics there were many obstacles you may encounter, learning to code, clashing ideas with your peers, being stuck when trying to solve a problem for a competition, and some much more. I felt these obstacles in my own experience in your FIRST LEGO League, but if you stay determined it will flourish into something you may love doing for the rest of your life.
Daniel Sanchez – Groton School – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: Keerthan DM – Unsplash