Many studies have shown, at least anecdotally, that robotics activities and competitions such as FIRST LEGO League (FLL) can successfully promote K-12 student engagement in, and mastery of, engineering skills and habits of mind. Many of these activities occur through extra-curricular clubs and therefore attract those with an existing interest and means to participate outside of the regular school day. It requires a pro-active effort by teachers, schools, and other supporters to attract K-12 minority students to engineering, and this paper will address one such effort that uses FLL both in schools and local youth organizations to impact minority youth and increase their interest in engineering. We also provide student- and coach-level data on ways participation impacted participants in our initiative.
展开▼
