Check out the latest Mathcad blog post, "Mathcad Lessons from/ for FIRST Robotics" written by Chris Hartmann, PTC's Senior Academic Program Manager. In this post Hartmann writes about PTC's relationship with FIRST Robotics teams and events and discusses what it's like teaching the Product Development Process to young people. He goes on to write what he has learned about education, manufacturing and engineering from these students and how these takeaways are applicable to people of all ages and skill sets. Here is a quote:
"As a former middle and secondary mathematics teacher, I pay attention to the ways that mathematics comes into use when FIRST teams work on their robots. One of the observations that I have made in the last year is that for many high school students, even those who would choose to join a robotics team, the mathematical preparation that they are receiving in school is not enabling them to see the relevance of math concepts in their product design and engineering projects. Jordan and I believe that Mathcad Prime has capabilities that can better enable students to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge and skills while participating in FIRST Robotics. We are working hard to add elements to our curriculum that will bridge the gap between math class and the FIRST shop. In teaching students about the Detailed Design, Prototype, and Test phase of the Product Development Process, we currently present five themes that we believe are important for FIRST participants to learn. At the same time, we think that they have relevance for and connections with students’ experience in the secondary school curriculum..."
Read the full post here.
Have a great weekend!
