David Mcleod, a junior in bioelectrical engineering at Clemson, is member of Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the National Biomedical Engineering Honor Society. Hearing through AEMB about an opportunity to coach fourth and fifth graders at Clemson Elementary, David jumped at the chance. “I just enjoy anything to do with robotics,” he said.
Last fall, David coached a group in a FIRST LEGO League Jr. Competition. Each Monday afternoon, he met with the students and other adult coaches. He helped the students solve real-world challenges with research, critical thinking, and imagination by building LEGO models and creating “Show Me” posters to present what they learned.
“Using the LEGO building blocks that the students already love,” David said, “FIRST LEGO League Jr. focuses on interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. I learned how to break down the challenges from LEGO resources into plans that the students could tackle successfully within their meeting times. I apply the same ideas when working with the Clemson Bionics Club. We just make robotic prostheses instead of LEGOS. The students and I learned the LEGO software together. They learned so fast that I had to stay well prepared!”
David went on, “Competition day was in December at R.C. Edwards Middle School. Robotics groups from many schools presented a short research project and performed various tasks for their robot to complete in the fastest time. It was intense! From loose parts to failing batteries, many factors can hinder a robot’s performance. When students put their robot down on the board and I see loose wires, it’s so hard not to run over and fix it, but they have to learn.”
At the competition, David’s role was to provide support and encouragement while evaluating the different challenges and helping the students decide in which challenges their robot would compete well. “The most important thing to me is not that they win, but that they learn and have fun while doing so.” Overall, the students did not bring home any trophies, but they came back as a stronger team with a new determination for next year, David said. “We can’t wait for next season!”
