Title of Project: Assessing the Impact of Autonomous Robotics Competitions in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education
Type: Research
Guide: Dr. CJ Chung

In this project, Computer Science Graduate student Emily Trudell and one or two computer science under graduate students will develop and maintain methodologies, procedures, and web-based database tools to assess the impact of autonomous robotics competitions in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Competitions can drive students to work harder resulting in better acquired skills. We believe that students participating in robotics competitions will improve STEM skills as well as demonstrate skills they would not have gained outside of the competitions. To prove this we need measurable data to quantify the student's experiences. We can use this data to highlight successes and determine areas of improvement. The purpose of the research is to quantify and analyze students' improvements in STEM skills through autonomous robotics competitions that require computer programming as a major work. The result will also show how effective a robotics competition is at educating them. The students would be assessed before and after a competition to see if their skills change. Another group of students who did not participate in the competition would act as a control group, and also take the pre and post assessments. To accomplish these tasks, a set of web-based database tools is needed to allow for easy test creation, collecting data, and data analysis. This research will be published in a journal on educational technologies.