first robotics in va schools: making a lasting impact on academic trajectories nate laverdure a...
TRANSCRIPT
FIRST Robotics In VA Schools:Making a Lasting Impact on Academic
Trajectories
Nate Laverdure
A Presentation To:Virginia Department of Education
Division of Technology & Career Education
FIRST Lego League
FIRST Tech Challenge
FIRST Robotics Competition
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
FIRST is Expanding
37,000 Students
1,500 Teams from 8 countries and every state in the U.S.
41 Regional Events in Brazil, Canada, Israel, U.S.
FIRST 2007 Annual Report
FIRST is Making an Impact
2005 Independent study by Brandeis UniversityFunded by the Ford Foundation
Why are Science and Technology Careers Important
in VA?An engineering gap?
In an apples-to-apples comparison, the US stillconfers more four-year engineering degrees thanIndia, and its gap with China is less than half ofwhat other reports suggest.ENGINEERING U.S.* INDIA CHINA
Bachelor’s Degrees 137,437 112,000351,537
Associate degrees 84,898 103,000292,569
(or equivalent**)*US figures adjusted to reflect more inclusive measures usedby India**Three-year diplomas in India; short-cycle degrees in China
China graduates twice as many engineers as U.S.
Important to a sustainable & independent economy
Image: Christian Science Monitor;Data: Duke University Study
Image: Venetian Buildings by The Triple Bottom Line Blog; wwwgetsustainable.net (all rights reserved)
Why are Science and Technology Careers Important
in VA?
Digest of Education Statistics, 2006
Engineering may be undervalued
Cannot change the economy
Must change the culture
Football heroesPolitical heroesComic book heroesBusiness heroesFireman heroesMusic heroesWar heroesAstronaut heroesReligious heroesTV heroes…& Guitar Heroes}
Why not science & technology heroes?
Changing Culture
The FIRST Vision
"To transform our cultureby creating a world where science
and technology are celebratedand where young people dream
of becoming science andtechnology heroes.“
— Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder