FIRST LEGO League Participation: Perceptions of Minority Student Participants and their FLL Coaches

After 14 years in the K-12 classroom teaching mathematics and engineering, I took a position as program director at CEISMC. Since starting I have published numerous papers on using robotics as tool for instruction and how to manage robotics competition to increase student interest and engagement in STEM. I contributed a chapter to the book Robotics in K-12 Education on the FLL program model we developed that provides a benefit to student involvement in STEM. Besides the role as FLL Operational Partner for Georgia, I am involved in two NSF funded research projects that use engineering design and robotics in STEM education. The NSF projects are SLIDER:Science Learning Integrating Design, Engineering, and Robotics and the recently awarded AMP-IT-UP:Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Integrating Technology to Unlock Potential.