Advice info for teacher starting a Middle School robotics class

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
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Hello!

Starting to teach a robotics course in a Middle School and looking at Vex EDR. My class size will be up to 30 students. I am wondering what you would recommend for kits to buy. Would buying a classroom super bundle and classroom starter bundle give me enough equipment? I am hoping to have teams of 2-3 students.

Maybe tell me what you do in your classes and the amount of time it takes would be helpful. I’m listening:)

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wow - 30 in a room - nuts

24 is the max I have.

I like your approach of 50/50 start and super V5 kits.

maybe we can arrange a call - lot to talk about.

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Join the Vex coach’s facebook page. Lots of excellent coaches with lots of excellent experience and advice.

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For our school, we did all competition super kits. This really is not needed though unless your students are planing on using sensor and more complex designs. I think it all depends on how competitive the teams plan to be. If they are going to go all in, getting a kit with sensors and metal will be important. You also will have to purchase aluminum. Ideally, if each team is keeping a notebook, you could divide the kids into groups of 4. Two for building and design, one for notebook and research, and another for programming. Just some ideas. This is the basic setup our middle school used.

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well, after being in a ms robotics class for 2 years, here’s my advice:

  • Teams will consume a lot more materials than you’d expect them to.
  • 30 kids, with teams of 2-2? that’s 10 teams minimum, which is going to be very difficult. Hosting 10 teams in a single classroom? not to mention that’s the price of 10 separate bots. I think 5 is a good team number, that way you can cut your team count by a lot, and it will be much more affordable.
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Robot

Virtual

Worlds

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