The Robotics Institute

My work focuses on using applications of robotic technologies to positively impact motivation and learning in science and technology education. I am pursuing a methodology for an integrative design which incorporates not just the constraints of cost and technology, but also considers the needs of curricula and educators. I believe that to develop effective educational technologies, one must first identify the key concepts taught in the course for which the technology is being developed, and then map those concepts to interactions that can be provided by technology. By doing so, one can use the existing curriculum to feed into the design decisions for which technological features to include or dismiss.

I am involved with several projects in which I hope to elaborate on the above method and create examples of how such a method can be applied to real-world classroom situations to enhance technology design and, hopefully, students' conceptual learning.