Has anyone developed a good classroom procedure for having an entire class (20 students) write the code for a STEM Lab or Practice Activity and submit it for the teacher to review or grade? I’ve been working with one programmer per team to write code that is then demonstrated in the lab or activity, but I would like for all students to practice writing code. Unfortunately, there isn’t sufficient class time for every student to download their code and run it for the activity. Any suggestions on addressing this gap in student programming experience and evaluation would be greatly appreciated!
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Hi @Jonathan_Haynes and welcome to the community!
This is a great question thank you for asking it! 
My immediate thought is three different ways that you could assess student code.
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Use the ‘SHARE’ feature in VEXcode IQ. At the top right of VEXcode IQ, there is a ‘SHARE’ button. This will export a PDF of the students current code that they could submit to you for review. This would allow you to get a quick glance at each student’s code and assess it as you see fit.
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Have all student submit their projects. Each student could download/save their project and then submit them to you either through a LMS, Google Drive, or email. You could then open the project files and even download them on a robot to test outside of class.
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Utilize VEXcode VR. You can use VR at vr.vex.com. I understand the robot is not exactly the same, but students can still get immediate feedback coding their robot to perform similar behaviors such as driving/turning/reading sensor values, etc. This would allow students to still engage with a robot even if time doesn’t allow them to test with the physical one in class.
Let me know your thoughts!
Lauren,
Thank you. Your suggestions were very helpful, and I’ve already begun to put them into practice in the classroom! I have a follow-on question regarding VEXcode VR. Is there any way for students to save the projects they create in VEXcode IQ and open them in VEXcode VR? If not, do you have any recommended best practices to help students move between the two platforms (VEXcode IQ & VR)? Thanks again! Your feedback was very helpful.
Sincerely,
Jonathan
Hello @Jonathan_Haynes! I’m so glad this was helpful! There is not a way to transfer code between a physical robot (like IQ) and VR directly. What i’ve done in the past is have them recreate the code in VR similarly to what they have in IQ. The Drivetrain commands function the same as well as many other commands. The only differences would be if the physical robot had something like an arm or claw which the VR robot does not have.
Having them recreate the code in VR also provides great teachable moments when they ask questions like:
- Why don’t we have to configure sensors in VR?
- Why do some of the sensors values change between a physical robot and the VR robot? Why are they not exactly the same?
This provides great opportunities to discuss things like sensors acting and responding to the real world and environments compared to a sanitized environment like VR.
Let me know if this is helpful or if you have any further questions!
