Workshop on
Broadening Participation in Computing
through Robotics and K-12 Education
(BPC-ERK12)

overview

This workshop is motivated to by the desire bring K-12 teachers together with academic researchers who are uniting robotics and education with the long term goal of broadening participation in computing and engineering fields. The NSF's BPC program, launched in 2005, has engaged a large number of universities in the US working individually or in consortia, many of whom are interacting with local school systems and incorporating robotics in K-12 activities and curricula.

This workshop aims to tap into the community of world-class robotics researchers with an interest in K-12 education. Local teachers will be invited to participate in the workshop, by observing, engaging in discussions and contributing their own experiences. A poster session will be included in which all speakers and attendees are encouraged to present.

The objectives are to establish a forum for sharing experiences, ideas and learning outcomes amongst members of this broad community. Assessment is a key theme, as school systems struggle to keep up with national and state standards while at the same time keep students motivated. Interdisciplinary, hands-on topics such as robotics have been shown to provide environments for learning that not only engage students but also offer applied settings for teachers to demonstrate transfer of skills and concepts from abstract textbook ideas to context-based problem-solving.