How do you deal with obvious parentbots? The kids can drive the bot well, but they clearly know little to nothing about maintaining, building, or programming their bot. It’s frustrating for someone trying to teach student to do their own work and especially if they lose to a team like this.
Just in case you have not seen this, here is the REC Foundation Student-Centered Policy. This has a clear definition of what is and is not acceptable along with some advice. I know this may not be everything you are looking for.
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Hey, anything helps. Thanks so much for pointing it out!
I found this thread on the VEX Forum informative. It points out various points of view on the subject. It’s a long thread.
Great question @LORI_COLANGELO and thanks for the link to the student-centered policy @Bob_Mimlitch
When I was teaching, I would assign students an essay to write. I would take time to mark them up with comments, suggestions, tips, and ideas. On the last page, on the bottom, I would put their grade, Without exception, when I returned them to my students, they didn’t read one thing. They would flip to the last page, read their grade, and then dismiss the paper. This was very frustrating and would cause me to be upset with my students.
However, upon further reflection, I realize that the students were just responding to the incentive structure I had created. All that mattered was the grade. The finality of the grade was what mattered–not any opportunities for improvement.
If we really want to address “parentbots” or anything similar, then our first step should be to examine what we are emphasizing in our classroom or with our robotics team. For example, grades (and only going to one competition) are final. But in every other aspect of life, we embrace and celebrate mastery through repeated effort. Here are some practical tips to help create a culture where the final grade/robot is NOT all that matters:
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Co-create goals with the students. What do we want to do this year? Emphasize the process (the engineering design process), not the result. Share these goals with parents.
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Celebrate improvement. This is a great use of an engineering notebook.
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Embrace and celebrate mistakes. Fail fast to learn quickly.
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Provide students with multiple opportunities to assess their own competency. Again, this can be documented in an engineering journal.
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This is awesome, thank you so much!
