PaperBots, An Inexpensive Means for Engineering Education

Brian Patrick O'Connell

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: K-12 and Pre-College Engineering Poster Session
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 13
Page Numbers: 23.956.1 - 23.956.13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22341
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22341
Download Count: 656

Paper Authors

biography

Brian Patrick O'Connell Tufts University

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Brian O'Connell received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2006. He then worked for Kollmorgen Electro/Optical as a mechanical engineer developing periscopes and optrontic masts. In 2011, he returned to academia to pursue his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. He aspires to become a professor of mechanical engineering after graduation to help advance the field and to produce better engineers in the future.

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Abstract

PaperBots, An Inexpensive Means for Engineering Education Due to economic issues, many school budgets are extremely strained by just the basic necessities of an educational institution. These budget limitations inhibit access to educational technologies that may promote engineering principle development within K-‐12 classrooms. PaperBots is a product that focuses on overcoming budget-‐driven limitations by utilizing materials like paper, office, and craft supplies already accounted for in a school’s budget. Through combination of those available materials with inexpensive electronics and a simple control unit, students can be challenged with interesting and entertaining engineering activities in any classroom. This October, a small focus group of approximately fifteen fifth-‐ and sixth-‐grade students will be brought together for a PaperBots activity. This activity will be observed and documented to make a qualitative determination of the effectiveness of this product. Conclusions will be based on the ease with which the students use the product to examine its usability in a classroom time period, their interest and enjoyment during the session to examine its potential effectiveness, and the range of different robots created as a mark of the product’s potential promotion of creativity. Positive results are expected based on product design considerations that took into account student capabilities, heuristic evaluations of the designs and instructions, and less formal trials with earlier versions of the product. These trials involved a cardstock-‐based cam and piston activity with small groups of peers, a paper and found material Rube Goldberg activity with undergraduate engineering students, and the same Rube Goldberg activity and origami puppet multi articulated puppet joints with elementary students at local science festivals and camps. Using these results I hope to show that PaperBots provides a means to allow hands-‐on robotics activities. By effectively providing activities promoting abstract, design-‐based thinking and creativity in the classroom—like other products in the educational technology marketplace, such as LEGO Mindstorms—but at a much lower cost, PaperBots can be utilized by many budget constricted schools.

Citation
Format

O'Connell, B. P. (2013, June), PaperBots, An Inexpensive Means for Engineering Education Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22341

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -          PaperBots, An Inexpensive Means for Engineering Education             Due  to  economic  issues,  many  school  budgets  are  extremely  strained  by  just  the  basic  necessities  of  an  educational  institution.  These  budget  limitations  inhibit  access  to  educational  technologies  that  may  promote  engineering  principle  development  within  K-‐12  classrooms.  PaperBots  is  a  product  that  focuses  on  overcoming  budget-‐driven  limitations  by  utilizing  materials  like  paper,  office,  and  craft  supplies  already  accounted  for  in  a  school’s  budget.  Through  combination  of  those  available  materials  with  inexpensive  electronics  and  a  simple  control  unit,  students  can  be  challenged  with  interesting  and  entertaining  engineering  activities  in  any  classroom.  This  October,  a  small  focus  group  of  approximately  fifteen  fifth-‐  and  sixth-‐grade  students  will  be  brought  together  for  a  PaperBots  activity.  This  activity  will  be  observed  and  documented  to  make  a  qualitative  determination  of  the  effectiveness  of  this  product.  Conclusions  will  be  based  on  the  ease  with  which  the  students  use  the  product  to  examine  its  usability  in  a  classroom  time  period,  their  interest  and  enjoyment  during  the  session  to  examine  its  potential  effectiveness,  and  the  range  of  different  robots  created  as  a  mark  of  the  product’s  potential  promotion  of  creativity.  Positive  results  are  expected  based  on  product  design  considerations  that  took  into  account  student  capabilities,  heuristic  evaluations  of  the  designs  and  instructions,  and  less  formal  trials  with  earlier  versions  of  the  product.  These  trials  involved  a  cardstock-‐based  cam  and  piston  activity  with  small  groups  of  peers,  a  paper  and  found  material  Rube  Goldberg  activity  with  undergraduate  engineering  students,  and  the  same  Rube  Goldberg  activity  and  origami  puppet  multi  articulated  puppet  joints  with  elementary  students  at  local  science  festivals  and  camps.  Using  these  results  I  hope  to  show  that  PaperBots  provides  a  means  to  allow  hands-‐on  robotics  activities.  By  effectively  providing  activities  promoting  abstract,  design-‐based  thinking  and  creativity  in  the  classroom—like  other  products  in  the  educational  technology  marketplace,  such  as  LEGO  Mindstorms—but  at  a  much  lower  cost,  PaperBots  can  be  utilized  by  many  budget  constricted  schools.    
AU  - Brian Patrick O'Connell
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - PaperBots, An Inexpensive Means for Engineering Education
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22341
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22341
ER  -