Interdisciplinary (99) This project develops a two-course project-based robotics curriculum at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) with the joint efforts of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. The content and stages of the new courses, Robotics I and Robotics II, are aligned with the IEEE Region 5 student robotics competition such that teaching of relevant material and building of a robot, as required by the criteria set by IEEE Region 5, are carried out simultaneously. Students in the robotics courses also engage in mentoring activities for South Texas area high school students who participate in the annual TAMUK robotics competition. The course is offered as an elective to any student enrolled at TAMUK.
By the end of Spring 2014, the project has successfully created the two-semester project-driven robotics course sequence, implemented a mentoring program for high school and middle school students which engaged Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) robotics students as mentors, established a robotics club at TAMUK, and used an annual outreach event to create more interest in robotics and the robotics classes at TAMUK. The project attracted more high-school students to engineering and robotics fields. The peermentoring activities during the high school competitions created a more friendly atmosphere, enhanced the learning experience via hands-on and real-life applications and presented role models for the potentially promising high school students. Contemporary applications, hands-on engineering design experience and teamwork in the robotics courses excited large number of students. The college- and high-school level mentoring as well as outreach activities connected many more potentially promising students to engineering fields. Since TAMUK is a Hispanic Serving Institution and the South Texas area is predominantly Hispanic, this project continues having a lasting impact for this group of underrepresented students. Better project skills attained by the students through interdisciplinary team projects. The successful robot design required efficient project management, leadership, problem solving, communication and documentation skills. Students exercised all these conditions during the design and improved their project skills. The students improved their perceptions about the robotics field. Successful robot design indicated increased knowledge, design and project management skill levels in robotics field. Moreover, the student competency on contemporary software and hardware tools also increased. Challenging competition environment, demanding project guidelines and timeline, and teamwork enabled students to develop their intellectual levels. The faculty teaching effectiveness improved positively by promoting learning and teaching during the project. The faculty prepared fundamental course modules, interacted with students during lecture and laboratory teaching and exchanged educational and scientific ideas and methods. During the project’s four years, project leaders have used information collected through external evaluation to improve the robotics courses, mentoring of high school and middle school students related to preparation for robotics competitions, TAMUK Robotics Club, and Robotics Outreach Day at TAMUK.
