Instruction Guide: READ ME: Conventions & Layout

Submitted by Randy Steele on 19 July, 2011 - 14:10

This introductory STEM Robotics master curriculum uses the Lego MINDSTORMS NXT or EV3  Education Core Set and NXT-G or EV3-G software to teach a STEM Robotics course.  The goal of this site is to be both a turn-key curriculum for novice robotics teachers, as well as a collaboration site for veteran teachers.

This master curriculum is divided into units, several of which have lessons built around the "NXT Video Trainer 2.0"  or "Introduction to Programming: LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3" product from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Academy. To round out a full STEM curriculum, these self-paced learning-to-program videos are supplemented with lessons on robotics hardware and underlying technologies, explicit math and science concepts, and the Engineering Process.

Use the Navigation Pane on the left of each page to rapidly browse the site contents by clicking the "+/-" boxes to expand/collapse the tree.  Clicking on any node on the Navigation Tree will open that page in the right pane and highlight the node name in red on the Navigation Tree.

Most of the resources on the site are available to the public, however, assessments/answer keys and teacher collaboration features are accessible only to registered users.  Educators are encouraged to select the "Register" button (upper left on any page) to register for access to assessment/answer keys, enable commenting, tagging, rating, and contribute related content they have created/found through the "Add a Resource" wizards on each lesson.

Classroom  Resources

The Classroom Resources (NXT or EV3) section contains various resources for running a STEM Robotics 101 class.  Topics include First Days of School, Classroom Procedures, Hardware and Software Tip & Tricks, as well as Course Level Resources such as CTE Frameworks and links to curriculum resources.

Scope and Sequence

A color-coded Scope and Sequence: Course-at-a-Glance/Customization Guide (NXT or EV3) provides a  quick overview of the course contents and illustrates how individual lessons emphasize Science, Technology Engineering or Math.  A Course Cloning option to accelerate the course customization process is coming soon.

Course Layout

The STEM Robotics 101 Course is broken down into Units, with each Unit containing several Lessons.  Each Lesson typically contains the following components:

Lesson Page

  • Overview of the lesson content.
  • Objectives which outline the learning students are expected to be able to demonstrate upon completion of the lesson.
  • Links to lesson components (described below)

Instructor Guide

  • Step-by-Step instructions on the lesson provided by the original author of the lesson:
    • For Robotics Academy-based lessons (lesson name within "quotation marks") , the Guide emphasizes the key learning students need to demonstrate beyond the basic demonstrations called for in the videos
    • For non-Robotics Academy-based lessons (no quotation marks in lesson name), the Guide has much more detail,  providing instructional guidance which does not presume any prior content expertise by the instructor
  • Links to Instructional Material (videos, photos, PowerPoint presentations, demonstration materials, other teaching collateral)
  • Links to Assessment (task assignment, worksheets, labs)

Primary Instructional Material

  • This is the Instructional Material provided by the original author of the lesson:
    • For Robotics Academy-based lessons, this simply references the appropriate video lesson
    • For non-Robotics Academy- based lessons, this contains PowerPoint presentations, web sites, labs, other videos, etc.

Differentiated Instructional Material

  • These resources may be provided by the original author of the lesson or submitted by other teacher/users of this site through the "Add Additional Instructional Material" Wizard located at the top of the right-hand navigation pane for that lesson.  They are divided into 3 categories:
    • Alternative - resources for teaching the lesson Objectives by another means (other than the Primary Instructional Material)
    • Extended - resources that go deeper into the lesson Objectives
    • Supplemental - resources that touch on or expand some aspects of the lesson Objectives

Formative Assessments

  • This material, provided by the original author of the lesson, may be used to gage student understanding of the lesson Objectives, usually as daily starters, mid-lesson feedback, or post-lesson reviews.

Summative Assessments

  • This material, provided by the original author of the lesson, is intended to assess student mastery of the lesson Objectives typically  through challenges, task assignments, quizzes and projects.

Additional Assessments

  • These resources are additional formative or summative assessments submitted by teachers/users of this site through the "Add Additional Assessment" Wizard located at the top of the right-hand navigation pane for that lesson.  They are divided into 3 categories:
    • Alternative - resources for assessing all the lesson Objectives by another means (other than the original Formative or Summative Assessment)
    • Extended - resources that go deeper into assessing the lesson Objectives.
    • Supplemental - resources that assess some aspects of the lesson Objectives

Get Involved!!

This STEM Robotics 101 master curriculum is a comprehensive curriculum which includes a wide array of STEM lessons. Registered Teacher_Users are encouraged to:

  • Rate and leave comments on existing lessons, reflecting your experience with the content
  • Tag lessons with meaningful key words, for yourself or others to use in searching content
  • Quickly Add Differentiated Instructional Material (Alternative, Supplemental or Extended) that you found/created to enhance an existing lesson (see "Add Additional Instructional Material" Wizard located at the top of the left-hand navigation pane for each lesson).
  • Quickly Add an Additional Assessment (Alternative, Supplemental or Extended) that you created/found for an existing lesson (see "Add Additional Assessment" Wizard located at the top of the left-hand navigation pane for each lesson).
  • Quickly Add a Classroom Resource you created/found to  the Classroom Resources section (see "Add Classroom Resource" Wizard located at the top of the left-hand navigation pane of the Classroom Resources page)
  • Contribute an entirely new lesson (incl. Guide, Primary, Assessment, etc.) that can be added to this STEM Robotics 101 master curriculum, and other can select for their customized course. (see  this Tutorial)

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