/news-archive/tag/vex-university/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 23 May 2017 13:10:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2017/05/23/ua-little-rock-robotics-camp/ Tue, 23 May 2017 13:10:52 +0000 /news/?p=67231 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to host robotics camp for elementary students, teachers]]> Sandra Leiterman, math specialist in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Educational Center, will lead a VEX IQ Robotics summer camp for students entering third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The camp will be held from 8 a.m. to noon July 31 to Aug. 4 in the Engineering Technology and Science (ETAS) building on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock campus. The cost is $125. A limited number of scholarships are available for students with a financial need. Students will learn hardware design, programming, teamwork, problem solving, and leadership skills. 鈥淲e thought it would be a great way to introduce robotics to elementary students who don鈥檛 have robotics teams at their schools, and it promotes an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education,鈥� Leiterman said. 鈥淲e hope these students will go back to their teachers and ask them to start robotics teams in their schools.鈥� In addition to students eager to learn about robotics, educators may attend the summer camp for free to learn how they can create a robotics team at their own schools. 鈥淥ne of the biggest hang ups of teachers starting robotics programs is that they think they are in over their head or under qualified,鈥� Leiterman said. 鈥淭his camp can show teachers how easy it is. There are also grants available. I can show teachers how to get a grant, so they can basically come and see how to get a robotics team started for very little cost.鈥� VEX IQ is a snap-together robotics system designed from the ground up to provide educational opportunities to future engineers of all skill levels. The VEX IQ program, which is for elementary school students, is the predecessor for robotics competitions at the middle school/high school (VEX EDR) and university (VEX U) levels. Leiterman is the coach of the only VEX U robotics team in Arkansas. While most robotics teams are staffed by engineering students, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 squad, dubbed 鈥�Just a Prototype,鈥� 聽is made up of future math and science teachers who will one day start school robotics teams. She also coaches two robotics teams at Mills High. One of the teams is an all-girls team, the Uncut Diamonds, which has made four national championship appearances. Members of all three of Leiterman鈥檚 robotics teams will work at the camp. The funds raised will be used to purchase parts to build robots and to attend competitions. Applications can be found online at. For more information, contact Leiterman at saleiterman@ualr.edu or 920.227.8576. In the upper right photo, the Just a Prototype robotics team members include: Back row (L-R) Jamie Burrows, Rachel Smith, Shala Nail, and Donetha Groover. Front row (L-R) David Shurley, FLN the robot, and Faculty Advisor Sandra Leiterman.]]> /news-archive/2017/04/05/stem-teachers-robotics-club/ Wed, 05 Apr 2017 15:12:32 +0000 /news/?p=66754 ... Future STEM teachers look to inspire students with robotics club]]> Sandra Leiterman, a math specialist in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Educational Center, created the first (VEXU) robotics team in the state of Arkansas.聽 In VEX robotics, students design and build robots to compete in robotics competitions that change every year. Prior to six years ago, Leiterman had no experience coaching robotics teams. Now, being a robocoach is practically second nature to her as she coaches the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock team and two robotics teams at Mills High School. Last year, she also helped start robotics teams at two Little Rock elementary schools, Chicot and Jefferson. 鈥淲hen I first started teaching, I was asked to start a robotics team when I had no experience,鈥� Leiterman said. 鈥淣ow I know a lot of high school robotics teams want to continue onto college competitions. As future teachers, there is a huge push for these students to provide STEM activities for their future students.鈥� While most robotics teams are staffed by engineering students, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 squad, who dubbed themselves 鈥淛ust a Prototype,鈥� is made up of future math and science teachers looking to inspire their future students. 鈥淭here is such a demand right now for STEM in schools,鈥� said Donetha Groover, a robotics team member and biology major. 鈥淲e are all going to be teachers. We want to experience robotics and take it into the classroom ourselves.鈥� In addition to being on the robotics team, the students also give back by volunteering with local high school robotics programs and serving as judges at their competitions. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock team members include Groover, senior biology major from Lodi, California; Jamie Burrows, junior math major from Mabelvale, Arkansas; Robert Presswood, sophomore physics and math major from Lincoln, Illinois; Rachel Smith, senior math major from Lockesburg, Arkansas; Michael McKinnie, senior biology major from Cabot, Arkansas; Shala Nail, senior math major from Evening Shade, Arkansas; and David Shurley, physics major. The REC Foundation awarded the team a materials grant that team members used to build their robot named FLN, which is pronounced Flynn and stands for Finished Last Night. The humorous name refers to a highly stressful week when the team completely redesigned its robot and made last-minute adjustments the night before the competition. 鈥淔our of us had judged a high school robotics competition in Monticello the weekend before our competition,鈥� Burrows said. 鈥淲e were really impressed by Bryant High School鈥檚 design and used an adaptation for our robot. That left us about four days to rebuild the robot before we left for the competition, and we had a few sleepless nights.鈥� Each year, VEX creates a unique game teams play during the robotics competitions. This year, they used their robots to play the game 鈥淪tarstruck鈥� on a 12-foot by 12-foot field. The object was to attain a higher score than the opposing team by placing stars and cubes in the scoring zones and hanging a robot on the hanging bar. 鈥淔LN is unique because every other robot had a claw, yet FLN鈥檚 design is to collect the star in the basket and then shoot the star across the border,鈥� Smith said. After their first competition in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Just a Prototype members were invited to participate in the TEX VEXU tournament in Houston against teams from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas in February. Just a Prototype received the special Judges Award recognition. 鈥淭he judges loved the fact that the team is made up of future math and science teachers that joined the team in order to gain experience so they may one day start their own teams when they have teaching jobs,鈥� Leiterman said. For now, the team members are looking forward to April 21, when VEX will announce the new robotic game competition for the 2017-18 season. The students plan to create a second robotics team and are hoping to host a VEXU competition at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in the fall. In the upper right photo, the “Just a Prototype” robotics team members include: Back row (L-R) Jamie Burrows, Rachel Smith, Shala Nail, and Donetha Groover. Front row (L-R) David Shurley , FLN the robot, and Faculty Advisor Sandra Leiterman. Photo by Lonnie Timmon III/糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Communications.聽]]>