The Robotics Peer Mentoring Program

Opportunities for Organisational Partners

The Robotics Peer Mentoring program is an innovative program aimed at providing hands on experiences of Robotics, Electronics, Science and Engineering for secondary School students in South Australia. Guided by undergraduate University student mentors secondary students and their teachers learn how to build and program From left: Ian Penfold, Rebecca Fleet and Peter McCairney are learning about robotics thanks to a UniSA mentoring program.

a robotic vehicle. The students are given an appreciation of the underpinning Science and Mathematics of electronic applications and the importance of these key areas in the development of higher level engineering skills. They also have opportunities to experience how the technologies are used in industry and to develop a better understanding of career possibilities and the various education and training pathways available to achieve a range of employment outcomes in Electronics and associated industries.

The program won the prestigious 2003 Australian Engineering Excellence Award : AusIndustry award for Innovation. It was also featured at a display for the recent Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council meeting in Canberra (Nov 2003). It is supported in 2004-06 by a grant of $350,000 over 3 years from the Premiers Science and Research Council.

Opportunities for Partner Organisations

There are a range of opportunities for organisations to become involved as partners to this program. The benefits of participating as a program partner include:

· Developing stronger links with Schools, particularly in your region, and providing input into the educational system through a range of possible activities include providing industry based projects built around micro-controller applications for teams of students, teachers and undergraduate mentors coached by your staff to work on, providing talks and information about your organisation to participants in the project and participating in the development of the program;
· Opportunities for the development of the leadership and communication skills of your staff as they engage in the range of activities identified above;
· Access to undergraduate students in engineering with the opportunity to develop their skills in areas of importance to the company and as a part of a broader recruitment strategy through project work and other means and
· Promotion of your organisation to a wide range of School, Government and other organisations through participation in events organised by the program, feature media articles and identification as a program partner on all communications and materials associated with the program.

The Robotics Peer Mentoring Program is seeking a broad range of organisations to assist with the development of strong Industry School links. It is also seeking organisations that may be interested in becoming financial sponsors of the program to help support its ongoing development over the next three years. Sponsorship packages can be tailored to suit your requirements.

Further information about the program can be obtained by contacting Brenton Dansie at the University of South Australia on 8302 3122 or email Brenton.Dansie@unisa.edu.au

Program Details

Undergraduate university students deliver 20 hours of curriculum to students in secondary schools generally in year 10 or 11. The curriculum covers the construction of a printed circuit board as the basis for building a robotic vehicle (pictured) and the use of the innovative e-Labtronics software, CoreChart, to program the micro-controller which controls the robot.

Further curriculum materials are being developed in 2004. These include materials for Stage 1 Physics which uses robotics as a context for the study of Physics. Materials for studies in Information Technology based on communication technologies will also be developed. Opportunities will be provided for students to work on projects based on the skills developed in the program, possibly under the Stage 2 Extension studies framework. It is our intention to write assessment plans suitable for accrediting the curriculum under the SACE framework. The program provides excellent opportunities for staff development for secondary teachers to learn about new technologies.

Program outcomes in 2003

The program was delivered to 13 Schools and 220 students in 2003. An evaluation of the program through questionnaires sent to the secondary students showed

· 50% of the students agreed that the program has stimulated their interest in a career in electronics / engineering and

· 65% agreed that the program had helped them to see the relevance of Science and Technology

At one of the major sites of the program, Salisbury High School, the numbers of students taking electronics at Year 10 has increased from 26 to 69 as a direct result of the program. The School also reports that some of their Stage 1 students are now aiming at University where previously they were not likely to do so. At another site, Nuriootpa High School, students are now looking at how the control technology can be applied to their wine making and aquaculture enterprises.