Dan Jackson, instructor in astronomy, physics and mathematics at Penn State Lehigh Valley, has a passion for teaching people of all ages, including fourth and fifth graders through the use of robots.
Every Thursday for the past six weeks, Jackson has been running a LEGO Robotics after-school program at Roosevelt Elementary School in the Allentown School District. This program was administered through the Center for Business Development and Community Outreach at Penn State Lehigh Valley, with funding coming from a Bosch corporation grant. This program was run at no cost to Roosevelt, which is a high-needs school and part of the United Way’s Community Schools program.
“I really enjoy teaching fourth and fifth graders because they have such a pure joy about learning, and because this is the age where the seeds of the future scientists they could one day become really get planted in their minds,” said Jackson. “I hope that the excitement they experience now stays with them for life. STEM learning is based on problem solving, spatial reasoning and having fun. The Lego robots really help build up these basic skills in a fun and challenging way without being too difficult to master.”
But really it was the elementary school students themselves who got the ball rolling on this program’s inception.
“Some students approached me requesting programming involving robotics. I had them draft a proposal and then I approached Doug from Penn State Lehigh Valley,” said Nashira Williams, community school coordinator at Roosevelt.