Society of Peer Mentors uses robotics to mentor local students – LSU Now

Robots may lack feelings, but they are being used to create bonds between local and University students.

The Society of Peer Mentors is a student organization dedicated to promoting leadership in the College of Engineering by allowing University students to be mentors and participate in outreach to local elementary, middle school and high school students. The robotics program is one aspect of the organization that provides outreach for local students whose schools have robotics programs.

Adrienne Steele, the Society of Peer Mentors adviser, said the college wrote a grant to the National Science Foundation to fund a retention group for engineering students. She said the student organization stemmed from the grant and was recognized in 2012.

Mechanical engineering junior and Society of Peer Mentors robotics chair April Gaydos said the mentors advise students on conflict resolution skills and serve as a resource for teachers who may not be as familiar with robotics.

We are there to close the gap because we have the engineering background to answer questions and know what will work and what wont work and help the kids come to a solution and a product, Gaydos said.

Schulze said the program mentors a total of 14 local schools. They participate in STEM nights at local schools and activities the students have put together, like Snap Circuit, a simplified circuit board students have put together to work on. The program also sponsors Louisiana Art and Science Museum Day.

The College of Engineering also has its own Supplemental Instruction program, independent of the Center for Academic Success.

The robotics program has particular areas of robotics that students learn about. The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology program, commonly known as FIRST, has a Junior FIRST Lego League for kindergarteners and first graders and a FIRST Lego League for elementary and middle school students that focus more on programming and testing.

VEX robotics gives students all year to design, build and compete in a smaller scale challenge.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an expensive event for students to compete in, and not every school has the funds to participate. However, the FIRST Technological Challenge is an inexpensive option for students, Gaydos said.

Karl Schulze, a mechanical engineering senior and Society of Peer Mentors Robotics co-chair, said he was introduced to robotics during his junior year of high school. He said it inspired him to pursue robotics as a career choice. He participated in the Encounter Engineering Bridge program as an incoming freshman and joined the program, eventually making his way up to a leadership position.

It was difficult at first, but learning through different leadership styles of how [students] work and what personality [they are] and how my personality would work well with them, Schulze said. And if not, how can I improve that. Definitely getting out there and experiencing that was pretty cool.

Gaydos, on the other hand, has had experience working with robotics her whole life. She said she had no intentions of getting involved with them during college, but eventually did, and assumed the chair position her second semester as a freshman.

She said she created and led a workshop to help teachers learn what resources are needed to further educate students based on what the students have expressed.

Being a part of this has given me the practice and resources to be able to talk about it and communicate it effectively, Gaydos said. It is honestly the reason I got an internship last year and still have it today. And I do owe that to being a part of this program.

She said during her involvement in the program, she has been able to inspire girls to beat the stigma associated with women in STEM disciplines.

Even though they might not go into a STEM field, this gives the resources to kind of plant a seed in that they can believe in themselves, they can do what they want, they dont have to be told what to do, Gaydos said. Its kind of like an empowerment.

The 2017 Bayou Regional FIRST Robotics Program was held at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana, March 23-25. A total of 60 teams were present, from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as one team from Mexico, one from China and one from Turkey.

Schulze said all the teams learned about the game for the competition at the same time and had six weeks to design, build and test their robots before having to bag up the robots and leave them alone until competition.

Schulze said the mentors were there to help out and ensure the robots were inspected before competition.

The top eight teams moved on from qualification matches to elimination matches, and each team formed an alliance with three other teams for a double-elimination bracket.

The winners were Team 3616 Phenomena from Lafayette, Louisiana; Team 3937 Breakaway from Searcy, Arkansas; and Team 281 The Green Villians from Greenville, South Carolina. These teams will go on to compete internationally in Houston, Texas, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Gaydos said she helped with judging at the competition. She said two awards will send students to the international event after the teams present outreach with STEM and volunteering to judges. Team 1912 Team Combustion from Slidell, Louisiana won the Chairmens Award and Team 3278 Lambot from San Luis Potosi, Mexico won the Engineering Inspiration Award. These two teams will join the winning three to go to the international competition.

Link:

Society of Peer Mentors uses robotics to mentor local students - LSU Now