ENHANCING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMACTIC (STEM) INSTRUCTION THROUGH ROBOTICS IN NATIVE AMERICAN HIGH POVERTY POPULATIONS

This paper will discuss the impact of the use of robotics as a tool for teaching higher level thinking skills in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering, computer programming and electronics with a population of limited English proficiency and high poverty. Through a grant received by Dr. Brown, the American Indian Crow students of the Little Big Horn College (LBHC) Computer Science/Pre-Engineering department were provided opportunities to learn to build and program robots utilizing a hands-on approach to learning. Outcomes from this program included: students were actively engaged in course work with hands-on robots, students attendance improved, and students successful course completion rates increased; students became ambassadors to local schools and presented their robots to the students increasing interest in technology; students helped provide a summer robotics week long camp for graduating high school students; and students increased selfconfidence and developed leadership skills.