Thinking & problem solving skillsIn robotics, our ongoing project has, obviously, been building and working on a robot. To build the robot, the class was split into groups of 4 or 5. All the groups followed instructions on how to build the basic Clawbot as depicted here and then had to make our own modification to make the robot better for a variety of challenges that it had to complete or compete in.
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Which 21st Century Skill do you feel this assignment addresses, and why?
This project mostly used my thinking and problem solving skills with a decent sprinkle of interpersonal skills. There were many challenges and mistakes throughout the building process that were mostly solved by me. I also had to use my interpersonal and leadership skills through the class to make sure that everyone had something to when possible.
What are you most proud of from this assignment, and why?
I’m most proud of being one of the first groups to finish our robot and getting the highest score on the first challenge.
How did you develop and/or improve upon your 21st Century Skills with this assignment?
I developed my thinking and problem solving skills through this project by having to solve a variety of problems, such as there not being parts needed by the instructions, programming issues, and never being able to find a charged battery.
What was most difficult about completing this task?
The most difficult part of this project wasn’t making a robot surprisingly but was working with the group. I constantly had to think of ways for everyone to be participating because otherwise they would start talking with other groups or the teacher would yell at them for not doing anything.
How could you improve this work?
There’s many ways that I could have improved the robot but personally I believe the class needs more improvement. The groups were too large for everyone to be working so I would have had more group assignments while we were building the robot so that every class everyone would have something to do. Also the challenges should have been planned and designed sooner and better, maybe there could have even been a group of students to do it.
If you could start over, what would you do different?
If I could start over I would tried to talk with the teacher about the problems I’ve had with the class and try to work to a solution to improve it have a more concrete idea of what we’re supposed to do each day what we’re supposed to be working towards with our robot.
How can you apply this to future learning?
I can apply the 21st century skills that I’ve developed through this class and project to being a better leader in future group projects, schooling, and beyond.