I'm dad engineer
Surprisingly, but often from our own and other children, and even ourselves in childhood, in response to the question “Who do you want to be?” We heard the same words. Among them are the professions of doctor, cosmonaut, teacher, taxi driver. And somehow no one wonders why this particular set. Where are geologists, politicians, communications workers, bankers, foremen, and finally engineers? After all, few people really become an astronaut or a taxi driver. The answer lies on the surface: children strive for what they understand. Everything is linear: the doctor cures diseases, the taxi driver is lucky, the astronaut flies into space, the teacher is here, next to him, he teaches and is friends with them. What do programmers, engineers, geologists, economists? Meanwhile, it is in the simple question “What should I be?” Primary vocational guidance is born. And it is important that the child has an understanding of what the profession he chooses at this moment in his life is.
Christine Kinningham, a researcher in the field of education and vice president of the Museum of Science of Boston, became interested in the issue of understanding the profession of children. She asked younger students to draw an engineer at work. It turned out that engineers drive trains, build houses, bridges and roads with helmets and bricks in hand, but do not design them. Christine noted that such innocent, in general, drawings are alarming. “If you have no idea what the engineers are doing, then you are unlikely to invent this profession on your career path,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, the profession of an engineer (including a programmer and a system architect) is the work of a person who creates the world that surrounds everyone from birth. On the one hand, the child is confronted with wildlife - and is actively studying it in natural history and the lessons of the surrounding world, and on the other, the child is immersed in the anthropogenic environment. The one that engineers have designed. But the student comes to the study of this half (and among the inhabitants of cities and most of the world) much later - when his main personality traits are formed, the first career preferences are defined. And in such a teenage period, a person begins to perceive the ideas of becoming an engineer, a programmer, an economist as a hostile invasion of adults.
')
Let's imagine the life of a modern child: a city, transport, a computer, a tablet, a telephone, a father’s car, in the summer a train or a plane, a bicycle, a light that turns itself off at home, an electronic card in the dining room, etc. This is the world around him - the world in which he lives and which requires a systematic approach, even if you are just a user. Meanwhile, children are wonderful engineers from nature: pay attention to how they plan their huts at home, how enthusiastically disassemble toys and how much designers love. And this is not a talent - this is the desire to know the very second - and most important - the world. Anthropogenic. And as a child, it is imperative to help the child figure out how this world works - thanks to this, talent will not be missed, if it exists initially.
So, if your child has a tendency to work as an engineer and technical mindset, the first thing to do is to maintain interest. Busy parents tend to limit their participation by buying books and a computer. However, this is not enough - too many distractions, outdated information that the child cannot discard due to the not yet developed critical thinking. In order not to discourage the desire for development and learning, it is important to initially engage in the process and connect what is needed for life and what you like: learning and playing. At the same time, it is important not to be limited to the “child-technology” plane, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of communication skills and general thinking. In the most elementary grades, educational robotics, for example, the LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 set, can be a good help in shaping primary skills and primary vocational guidance. We discussed it in detail in the first post on Giktatimes , and now we will pay more attention to the methodological aspect of recruitment.
Formation of the concept of experiment. In general, the whole life of a child is one continuous experiment. Children learn the world empirically, ask questions, give their answers (build hypotheses) and get the right decisions (a posteriori method). They are initially prone to the scheme of the experiment, which means that it should be used. WeDo 2.0 integrates with PCs and tablets, allows you to conduct the first experiments and record the results in prototypes of the forms that students and scientists work with in the future.
LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 is a robotic complex consisting of a “smart” control unit, functional components (wheels, gears, wires, connectors) and cubes for the design of a future system (the first robot). This set covers all areas of knowledge: from the concept of the experiment to the presentation of the results of their work.
Practical solutions. Working with WeDo 2.0 is focused on practice - that is, the child, working with a robotic solution, sees and can hold in his hands the result of his activity, can link it with objects of the real world, understands how the model he created functions.
If you think that in order to collect something necessary and useful from LEGO, you need to have several sets with smart modules, drives, sliders and a mountain of gears, you are mistaken - see how the photographer assembled a time-lapse machine from relatively simple details . The platform is powered by a motor capable of operating up to 8 hours in constant driving mode on conventional AA batteries.
Algorithmic thinking. Those who attended school in the mid-late 90s will surely remember how the concept of algorithm was explained to us: looking at a familiar blackboard, we talked about how to boil a kettle, and the teacher carefully indicated that we missed (open the kettle, light a match , pour water, turn on the burner, etc.). Then we drew a flowchart and so the understanding of the algorithm came as a strict sequence of actions, each of which should be described. But if we had the opportunity to tell the algorithm in the process of warming the tea, we would not forget about the matches, the cover, etc. The WeDo 2.0 complex is aimed at the fact that the child creates his first robot (that is, the performer of the algorithm) and programs it. Thus, the student together with the practice gets skills of algorithmic thinking, delves into the basics of programming, learns to understand the essence and properties of the system.
Many elements leave freedom for the flight of the teacher's (parent's) imagination and the student, especially since one model can be disassembled and another one assembled. Thus, the child begins to understand that the solution is variable and it is possible to solve the problem from the same initial set in different ways, among which there are wrong, and long, and optimal ones.
Collection, analysis and interpretation of data. When a child creates his first robot, it is time to measure movement and collect data from sensors. All data must be recorded, compared, use forms, be able to interpret. It is important that the student not only successfully assemble the model, but also be able to continue to observe, draw conclusions and talk about them. You can make a presentation, during which the student will tell about the process of building a robot, programming and the results of observations. This will allow speaking through all the stages, finding all the gaps, asking new questions, and at the same time developing presentation skills.
Design and prototyping. For the future engineer, design and prototyping is an important part of the job. The system must be designed productive, economical, ergonomic and functional. Of course, it is difficult for the student to understand the meaning of these words, and it is useless. The main thing is to learn to think in terms of convenience and simplicity of the solution (but not primitivization!). Prototyping is an important skill that helps to predict the result and go to it iteratively, in sequential steps. The design of the solution allows you to get acquainted with the geometry, physics, concepts of symmetry and equilibrium in instrument control.
The classic version of the finished robot, although in fact there can be infinitely many options. Although LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 is small, for example, compared to its older comrade LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3, it’s still a complete set for the first robotic experience that suits not only children, but everyone who wants to experiment with robotics, while having there is a reliable base at hand that can be repeatedly assembled and disassembled.
For example, what can be done by attaching a fantasy:
Another small tip is to work with schoolchildren (it’s not important whether you are a teacher or a parent), avoid simplifying vocabulary and use engineering terminology. The child will perceive the conceptual apparatus as part of his native language and in the future it will be easy to navigate in it.
In general, among developers, the phrase often says: "The best programmers are obtained from people with engineering education." Here, of course, there is a share of professional chauvinism of those who became a programmer, having graduated from an engineering college in the 90s and early 2000s - then they simply did not train programmers. Nevertheless, if you look closely at the selection of professionals, the truth of the expression becomes obvious: good developers are obtained from those who are well-designed and able to mentally embrace the system as a whole, and not to think in separate “blocks”. This is a very useful skill.
Again, back to our school years, the children of the 90s - we were divided into classes of physicists and lyricists. The best students of physics and chemistry looked contemptuously at the lovers of reading and writing poetry, the young poets appealed to Pushkin with failures in the exact sciences. In the early 2000s, we dispersed across universities, and then ... retrained, because many people lacked something - from basic computer literacy to programming skills.
Today, the question of the need for the formation of systemic and algorithmic thinking can be considered removed. It is necessary for everyone - from the philologist to the designer of the spacecraft. The processes of deep integration of sciences are due to computerization, the desire for research and research in all areas. For example, today the problems of computational linguistics, theoretical biomechanics, chemistry and computers help historians and archaeologists to the fore. Yes, you can still keep a “clean” specialty, but scientists and practitioners with a combination of specialized and computational skills have much greater prospects. In the coming decades, the situation is unlikely to change - the professions of the future are directly related to algorithms, data and calculations.
Comment of the former teacher of a state university, experience in high school - 3 years.
Therefore, even if your child is not interested in technology, it is important to give him the necessary skills - and here learning through the game (and that’s how the child perceives LEGO).
WeDo 2.0 helps to create an understanding of the discipline at the interface of engineering and the basic specialty . You can offer to use the kit to achieve the goal associated with the passion or inclination of the child - so he can understand that the technique is designed to help develop knowledge, to delve into the processes.
WeDo 2.0 develops the imagination - a robotic solution consists of many elements that can be combined and actually invent something new. You shouldn’t insist on getting a car or an all-terrain vehicle through the LEGO Education design solutions library; perhaps the child will create something that you cannot even suspect.
Habitual details of LEGO, beloved by children, regardless of inclinations, will not be considered by them as an obligatory program or some overtime occupation - the child will quickly get involved in the design of the model, which then also will execute some commands.
WeDo 2.0 builds communication, presentation and collaborative skills . Especially these features appear in the case of work in a group. The times when the introvert scientist creates something in his laboratory and gains fame are almost over. In the context of informational globalization, it is important to be able to communicate with colleagues, co-authors, and experts. The ability to work in a team, being its effective member, is the enduring value of management in the 21st century.
WeDo 2.0 makes the child independent and responsible for the result of actions. Working with a solution, a student learns to design, make decisions, and break up work into tasks and subtasks. It helps to form planning and self-organization skills that will help both in the performance of school tasks and in your future career.
Teaching any child is a difficult process in which, moreover, several participants: parents, teachers, teachers of circles, tutors. And it is important to follow a few rules that will help make training effective and go through the first steps of vocational guidance - it must still be formed from childhood.
And then the student learns a new theory, realizes the many unsolved problems and tries to find their solution. And then comes the time of invention - the creation of new designs that can bring real benefits to the world. The first robots of LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 are being replaced by LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 - solutions with a “smart brick” are more serious, on the basis of which you can really invent. We have already told you about inventions made with EV3.
Finally, robotics can be ideally combined with any hobby - even music. How do you, for example, Jimi Hendrix from LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3?
Of course, the young dreamer will still rush from cosmonautics to yellow drafts, from dance to chess, then by all means it will be painful to choose between the WSC, aircraft building and directing faculties. Moreover, he will also change professions - such is the dynamics of our life. But thanks to early learning with him will always be an understanding of algorithms, systems thinking, engineering ability to design and predict. And it still did not bother anyone anywhere.
And we are in a hurry to congratulate the Russian team, which won four medals, including two gold ones, at the International Robotics Olympiad with a big victory.
A team of schoolchildren and students of Russia took part in the International Robotics Olympiad (World Robot Olympiad - WRO-2016), which was held in New Delhi (India). The Russian team presented innovative projects for the development of environmental infrastructure in the Arctic and the World Ocean, based on the educational solutions of LEGO Education. More details on Facebook .
The Russian team in robotics won prizes in 4 categories of WRO-2016 and even the youngest. Guys, we are proud of you!
Christine Kinningham, a researcher in the field of education and vice president of the Museum of Science of Boston, became interested in the issue of understanding the profession of children. She asked younger students to draw an engineer at work. It turned out that engineers drive trains, build houses, bridges and roads with helmets and bricks in hand, but do not design them. Christine noted that such innocent, in general, drawings are alarming. “If you have no idea what the engineers are doing, then you are unlikely to invent this profession on your career path,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, the profession of an engineer (including a programmer and a system architect) is the work of a person who creates the world that surrounds everyone from birth. On the one hand, the child is confronted with wildlife - and is actively studying it in natural history and the lessons of the surrounding world, and on the other, the child is immersed in the anthropogenic environment. The one that engineers have designed. But the student comes to the study of this half (and among the inhabitants of cities and most of the world) much later - when his main personality traits are formed, the first career preferences are defined. And in such a teenage period, a person begins to perceive the ideas of becoming an engineer, a programmer, an economist as a hostile invasion of adults.
')
Let's imagine the life of a modern child: a city, transport, a computer, a tablet, a telephone, a father’s car, in the summer a train or a plane, a bicycle, a light that turns itself off at home, an electronic card in the dining room, etc. This is the world around him - the world in which he lives and which requires a systematic approach, even if you are just a user. Meanwhile, children are wonderful engineers from nature: pay attention to how they plan their huts at home, how enthusiastically disassemble toys and how much designers love. And this is not a talent - this is the desire to know the very second - and most important - the world. Anthropogenic. And as a child, it is imperative to help the child figure out how this world works - thanks to this, talent will not be missed, if it exists initially.
He is an engineer
So, if your child has a tendency to work as an engineer and technical mindset, the first thing to do is to maintain interest. Busy parents tend to limit their participation by buying books and a computer. However, this is not enough - too many distractions, outdated information that the child cannot discard due to the not yet developed critical thinking. In order not to discourage the desire for development and learning, it is important to initially engage in the process and connect what is needed for life and what you like: learning and playing. At the same time, it is important not to be limited to the “child-technology” plane, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of communication skills and general thinking. In the most elementary grades, educational robotics, for example, the LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 set, can be a good help in shaping primary skills and primary vocational guidance. We discussed it in detail in the first post on Giktatimes , and now we will pay more attention to the methodological aspect of recruitment.
Formation of the concept of experiment. In general, the whole life of a child is one continuous experiment. Children learn the world empirically, ask questions, give their answers (build hypotheses) and get the right decisions (a posteriori method). They are initially prone to the scheme of the experiment, which means that it should be used. WeDo 2.0 integrates with PCs and tablets, allows you to conduct the first experiments and record the results in prototypes of the forms that students and scientists work with in the future.
LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 is a robotic complex consisting of a “smart” control unit, functional components (wheels, gears, wires, connectors) and cubes for the design of a future system (the first robot). This set covers all areas of knowledge: from the concept of the experiment to the presentation of the results of their work.
Practical solutions. Working with WeDo 2.0 is focused on practice - that is, the child, working with a robotic solution, sees and can hold in his hands the result of his activity, can link it with objects of the real world, understands how the model he created functions.
If you think that in order to collect something necessary and useful from LEGO, you need to have several sets with smart modules, drives, sliders and a mountain of gears, you are mistaken - see how the photographer assembled a time-lapse machine from relatively simple details . The platform is powered by a motor capable of operating up to 8 hours in constant driving mode on conventional AA batteries.
Algorithmic thinking. Those who attended school in the mid-late 90s will surely remember how the concept of algorithm was explained to us: looking at a familiar blackboard, we talked about how to boil a kettle, and the teacher carefully indicated that we missed (open the kettle, light a match , pour water, turn on the burner, etc.). Then we drew a flowchart and so the understanding of the algorithm came as a strict sequence of actions, each of which should be described. But if we had the opportunity to tell the algorithm in the process of warming the tea, we would not forget about the matches, the cover, etc. The WeDo 2.0 complex is aimed at the fact that the child creates his first robot (that is, the performer of the algorithm) and programs it. Thus, the student together with the practice gets skills of algorithmic thinking, delves into the basics of programming, learns to understand the essence and properties of the system.
Many elements leave freedom for the flight of the teacher's (parent's) imagination and the student, especially since one model can be disassembled and another one assembled. Thus, the child begins to understand that the solution is variable and it is possible to solve the problem from the same initial set in different ways, among which there are wrong, and long, and optimal ones.
Collection, analysis and interpretation of data. When a child creates his first robot, it is time to measure movement and collect data from sensors. All data must be recorded, compared, use forms, be able to interpret. It is important that the student not only successfully assemble the model, but also be able to continue to observe, draw conclusions and talk about them. You can make a presentation, during which the student will tell about the process of building a robot, programming and the results of observations. This will allow speaking through all the stages, finding all the gaps, asking new questions, and at the same time developing presentation skills.
Design and prototyping. For the future engineer, design and prototyping is an important part of the job. The system must be designed productive, economical, ergonomic and functional. Of course, it is difficult for the student to understand the meaning of these words, and it is useless. The main thing is to learn to think in terms of convenience and simplicity of the solution (but not primitivization!). Prototyping is an important skill that helps to predict the result and go to it iteratively, in sequential steps. The design of the solution allows you to get acquainted with the geometry, physics, concepts of symmetry and equilibrium in instrument control.
The classic version of the finished robot, although in fact there can be infinitely many options. Although LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 is small, for example, compared to its older comrade LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3, it’s still a complete set for the first robotic experience that suits not only children, but everyone who wants to experiment with robotics, while having there is a reliable base at hand that can be repeatedly assembled and disassembled.
For example, what can be done by attaching a fantasy:
Another small tip is to work with schoolchildren (it’s not important whether you are a teacher or a parent), avoid simplifying vocabulary and use engineering terminology. The child will perceive the conceptual apparatus as part of his native language and in the future it will be easy to navigate in it.
In general, among developers, the phrase often says: "The best programmers are obtained from people with engineering education." Here, of course, there is a share of professional chauvinism of those who became a programmer, having graduated from an engineering college in the 90s and early 2000s - then they simply did not train programmers. Nevertheless, if you look closely at the selection of professionals, the truth of the expression becomes obvious: good developers are obtained from those who are well-designed and able to mentally embrace the system as a whole, and not to think in separate “blocks”. This is a very useful skill.
He is definitely not an engineer or undecided
Again, back to our school years, the children of the 90s - we were divided into classes of physicists and lyricists. The best students of physics and chemistry looked contemptuously at the lovers of reading and writing poetry, the young poets appealed to Pushkin with failures in the exact sciences. In the early 2000s, we dispersed across universities, and then ... retrained, because many people lacked something - from basic computer literacy to programming skills.
Today, the question of the need for the formation of systemic and algorithmic thinking can be considered removed. It is necessary for everyone - from the philologist to the designer of the spacecraft. The processes of deep integration of sciences are due to computerization, the desire for research and research in all areas. For example, today the problems of computational linguistics, theoretical biomechanics, chemistry and computers help historians and archaeologists to the fore. Yes, you can still keep a “clean” specialty, but scientists and practitioners with a combination of specialized and computational skills have much greater prospects. In the coming decades, the situation is unlikely to change - the professions of the future are directly related to algorithms, data and calculations.
Comment of the former teacher of a state university, experience in high school - 3 years.
I taught statistics, economic analysis and econometrics from financial management and applied computer science. It would seem that these guys are as close as possible to techies. Being young and in all trends, I was preparing classes with a PC orientation - both theory and practice. Nevertheless, 3-5 courses, I expected that we would do “for real”, the way it happens in business - at their future work. Well, in general, what I received was almost the last straw that made me forget about teaching forever. First of all, a lot of students are not friends with numbers and logic - these are the answers about them from the category of "one and a half digger". They do not care at all what the decimal fraction differs from a percentage in. But this question is easily solved - you can repeat it again, you never know, you have forgotten. The worst thing is that students do not know how to see relationships, find patterns, think systematically. This will then greatly interfere in his career. I don’t know, to be honest, I would have done a course of robotics for them to confront them with the concepts of algorithm, system, system management, interactions, etc.
Therefore, even if your child is not interested in technology, it is important to give him the necessary skills - and here learning through the game (and that’s how the child perceives LEGO).
WeDo 2.0 helps to create an understanding of the discipline at the interface of engineering and the basic specialty . You can offer to use the kit to achieve the goal associated with the passion or inclination of the child - so he can understand that the technique is designed to help develop knowledge, to delve into the processes.
WeDo 2.0 develops the imagination - a robotic solution consists of many elements that can be combined and actually invent something new. You shouldn’t insist on getting a car or an all-terrain vehicle through the LEGO Education design solutions library; perhaps the child will create something that you cannot even suspect.
Habitual details of LEGO, beloved by children, regardless of inclinations, will not be considered by them as an obligatory program or some overtime occupation - the child will quickly get involved in the design of the model, which then also will execute some commands.
WeDo 2.0 builds communication, presentation and collaborative skills . Especially these features appear in the case of work in a group. The times when the introvert scientist creates something in his laboratory and gains fame are almost over. In the context of informational globalization, it is important to be able to communicate with colleagues, co-authors, and experts. The ability to work in a team, being its effective member, is the enduring value of management in the 21st century.
WeDo 2.0 makes the child independent and responsible for the result of actions. Working with a solution, a student learns to design, make decisions, and break up work into tasks and subtasks. It helps to form planning and self-organization skills that will help both in the performance of school tasks and in your future career.
Teaching any child is a difficult process in which, moreover, several participants: parents, teachers, teachers of circles, tutors. And it is important to follow a few rules that will help make training effective and go through the first steps of vocational guidance - it must still be formed from childhood.
- Speak with the child in an understandable language, but do not replace the terms - let him plunge into the vocabulary, delve into the essence of the terms. The imagination of the younger schoolchild allows him to understand quite deeply the definitions, to represent them.
- Use experience and experiment - this is a natural form of knowing the world for a child. In addition, the skills of planning, hypothesis and reasoning are developing.
- Let the student speak, and not just silently write the results of the observations in a notebook - this is how his self-presentation skill will be formed.
- Try to work in a team - with yourself or other children, but the child should be aware that he is part of the chain of interactions and he is responsible for his work area. How he performs his steps will determine the entire result.
- Allow the child to be wrong, do not be afraid to make a mistake yourself - it is important that there is dialogue and the error is perceived as a starting point for finding a new solution.
And then the student learns a new theory, realizes the many unsolved problems and tries to find their solution. And then comes the time of invention - the creation of new designs that can bring real benefits to the world. The first robots of LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 are being replaced by LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 - solutions with a “smart brick” are more serious, on the basis of which you can really invent. We have already told you about inventions made with EV3.
Finally, robotics can be ideally combined with any hobby - even music. How do you, for example, Jimi Hendrix from LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3?
Of course, the young dreamer will still rush from cosmonautics to yellow drafts, from dance to chess, then by all means it will be painful to choose between the WSC, aircraft building and directing faculties. Moreover, he will also change professions - such is the dynamics of our life. But thanks to early learning with him will always be an understanding of algorithms, systems thinking, engineering ability to design and predict. And it still did not bother anyone anywhere.
And we are in a hurry to congratulate the Russian team, which won four medals, including two gold ones, at the International Robotics Olympiad with a big victory.
A team of schoolchildren and students of Russia took part in the International Robotics Olympiad (World Robot Olympiad - WRO-2016), which was held in New Delhi (India). The Russian team presented innovative projects for the development of environmental infrastructure in the Arctic and the World Ocean, based on the educational solutions of LEGO Education. More details on Facebook .
The Russian team in robotics won prizes in 4 categories of WRO-2016 and even the youngest. Guys, we are proud of you!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/399721/
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