UMass Amherst Hosts LEGO Robot Training Workshop for Science Teachers and Coaches on Aug. 7

 

DATE:           Tuesday, Aug. 7

TIME:            9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., MEDIA ACCESS at noon

WHAT:          LEGO robot training for teachers and adult coaches

WHERE:       Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, 6 Open Square Way, Holyoke

 

At a coach training workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, a visiting expert will teach science teachers and other adults how to build and program LEGO robots so they can help to form FIRST LEGO League (FLL) robotics teams for 9- to 14-year-old students in area schools and community organizations. This is the second workshop for coaches offered this summer. The first, offered at UMass Amherst in June, received positive reviews from teachers, parents and youth program staff who attended.

 

The overall goal is to form more clubs and FLL teams where girls and boys can have fun with robots at the same time getting excited about science and engineering study and careers.

 

FIRSTconsultant Karen Sullivan will teach the adults how to build and program LEGO NXT robots. They will discuss how to organize and coach a FIRST LEGO League robotics team. The event was organized by the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) at UMass Amherst. CAITE has led very popular Girls Connect workshops over the past three years for fourth grade to middle school girls from across western Massachusetts.

 

FIRST LEGO League clubs and activities are often used by science teachers in the classroom, but teams of up to 10 youth with at least one adult coach can also be set up by parents, community youth groups and home-schooled groups. Organizers say that like any organized sport, teams have fundraisers, create a team identity and go on field trips. 

 

CAITE works to broaden participation in information technology education in Massachusetts. Funded by the National Science Foundation, CAITE is led by UMass Amherst in partnership with 15 public higher education institutions across Massachusetts.