UROP Project | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Robotics, STEM Education

Research Mentor: Dr. or Prof. Taylor Higgins, She/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: th22u@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to all ENGINEERING/Computer Science majors
Project Location: AME Building (2003 Levy Ave. Tallahasse, FL)
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 (negotiable),
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

As a female researcher in STEM, I am passionate about reaching out to the local community to increase interest and diversity of participation in STEM. Specifically, I want to develop a workshop or series of workshop activities that I can use to help teach K-12 students in the community about robotics, technology, and engineering. I have a robotics learning platform called the Edison (https://meetedison.com/), but I need someone to 1) explore how to use it and what lesson-plan resources are currently available and 2) develop a set of workshops for various ages of students to engage with these robots to learn about STEM. This will involve following online instructions to set up my Edison robot, finding and following instructions online for pre-planned lessons that are already available (just so we know what's resources we have at our disposal), and then possibly creating your own learning module with the robots to teach students about basics in human/robot interaction (the focus of the RTHM lab here at FAMU-FSU).

Research Tasks: Very very basic programming. Following online resources to learn very basic robotics principles and then creating lesson plans to teach these principles to a K-12 audience.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Introductory experience with any programming language. Clear communication skills in both writing and speaking. An interest in education. I need someone who WANTS to engage with the community and make robotics more accessible.

Mentoring Philosophy

As a mentor, I work best with students who are inquisitive, pro-active, and problem solvers. I do not like to micro-manage. I see my job as being a resource to my research students, helping to solve problems when stuck, providing overall vision, and occasionally giving nudges in the right direction. I see my students as the expert in their given project, and I expect students to go learn skills, find possible solutions, try many things that may or may not work, and ultimately to come to research meetings ready to teach me all the cool things they’ve learned, tried, and developed. I aim to creating a safe environment in which mentees feel that is acceptable to fail and learn from their mistakes. I do expect mentees to take ownership of their work and have accountability for their effort in the project. Overall, I want to do fun engineering work that makes a difference in human lives, and I want my students to feel empowered to do difficult things and solve challenging problems.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://rthmlab.wixsite.com/taylorgambon

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