Hands-on learning

The new Project Lead the Way program is pushing both students and teachers this year at Hillsboro Middle School.

Hillsboro sixth-graders Henry Hein and Bailey Tabott try to get their project to function properly during the Automation and Robotics class led by instructor Len Coryea. The class is part of the Project Lead the Way program that is part of the HMS curriculum for the first time this year.  Photo by Don Ratzlaff / Free Press

There?s a lot of hands-on learning going on in Len Coryea?s sixth-grade Auto?mation and Robotics class these days at Hillsboro Middle School.

The classroom is abuzz as students work in teams of two to build a machine with Erector Set-like materials. The goal is to successfully ?drive? the vehicle back and forth, then open and close a gripper?all based on computer programming.

The class is a product of Project Lead the Way, the nation?s leading provider of K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs.

PLTW is still relatively new for USD 410?and this is the first year it?s part of the middle school curriculum

Coryea, a 25-year veteran in the classroom, is the first to admit that he?s learning right along with his students.

Like several other teachers in the district, Coryea was oriented to the PLTW approach during a week-long summer class at Wichita State University.

?The first day we introduced ourselves, I said I don?t know what this is about, I was told ?you?re going to a class and learn this.? So I?m here.?

Coryea said the class was challenging, to say the least.

?I would say rigor-wise, by 8 in the morning we were (at the university), and theoretically it was supposed to be over by 4 p.m.,? he said. ?But there were some nights we didn?t leave there until 6. We?d come back and eat supper at the hotel, then go up to the room and work until midnight, just reading on the computer.

?I was lost?and I spent probably 40-50 hours, before I even went, getting ready.?

On course

Coryea launched his Automation and Robotics course three to four months ago. It was intended to be a nine-week course.

?I finally have to stop because I have to get into some of the other curriculum (requirements),? he said.

The class began with an overview of engineering?referred to as the design process. From there, the teams worked to build 12 different drive systems using computer photos as their only guideline.

?I know they were frustrated because there wasn?t much input I could give them,? Coryea said. ?Even in the building of it, I showed them pictures on a computer and they had to build it?and the pictures were not that good.?

Once the projects are completed, the teams are assigned a challenge?such as building a car that could shift from two-wheel drive into four-wheel drive.

Coryea said it?s interesting to see the solutions students discover. One team used a lead screw to push the gear down and kick it into four-wheel drive.

?That worked really well,? Coryea said. ?In our class at Wichita, none of us came up with that idea. I was really impressed.?

Coryea reviews programming codes with Haley Loewen and Skyler Marlar to try to diagnose a problem with their project. Photo by Don Ratzlaff / Free Press

Working as teams

The philosophy behind teams is to create a problem-solving environment.

?Hopefully, one student is really good at this kind of work, and you might get a student who?s not as good at it?the (second student) sees what to do. If you get two equals, it?s fun to watch them problem-solve.?

Coryea said girls and boys seem to be on a level playing field when it comes to working through the assignments.

?If this was 20 years ago when I was doing Legos and levers, boys had a huge advantage because they played with Legos at home, and they knew how to put things together fast. But because this was using screws and Erector Set type of stuff, (boys had no advantage).

?In reality, I had girls? groups finishing faster than boys? groups in almost everything. They would sit down and get after it. Boys have a tendency to get off (topic).?

Coryea said he has seen how the hands-on approach catches the imagination of some students who may have struggled in the traditional classroom.

?I think the challenge of getting a (computer) program to work is what makes some of them go,? he said. ?I?ve had one boy who has worked more on this than anything I?ve ever seen. So I sent (the project) home with him.?

Right approach

Coryea admitted the PLTW approach has generated frustration and satisfaction for him as a veteran teacher.

?There?s a lot more stress, in a way, but it?s kind of fun,? he said. ?I?ve been writing things down that I might change for next year. I?d like to go a step further in programming.?

Even though he himself is still learning, Coryea is convinced PLTW is a valuable educational approach for today?s students.

?The use of computers and automation is not going away, so if we want a kid from Hillsboro to be prosperous, we have to start leaning in that direction,? he said.

?This is one of those things we need to do if we want kids to be successful (in the future).

?I don?t think college is the answer now anymore (for many kids),? he added. ?This is engineering, and they?re predicting that engineering is going to need even more (employees). Our plants out here need to have people who know how a conveyor system works and an automation system.

?We might as well have a Hillsboro kid in charge of that.?

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