Building a Service-Learning Program Through Freshman Engineering and LEGO Nxttm Robotics

Chemical Engineering freshmen in the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State University are immersed in chemical engineering fundamentals using LEGO NXT™ robotics, Vernier^® sensors and small-scale pumps, pipes, tanks, to construct simple, automatically-controlled process unit operations.  From their studio experience, we are working to translate these activities into K-12 outreach.    Now a regular feature of our K-12 outreach, these activities are enthusiastically embraced by students—elementary through high school, and are proving to be a relatively-inexpensive means of providing a significant number of students (e.g. 50-60) an engineering design experience in small groups of three to four each. Such hands-on activities in a high-energy problem-based environment lead to numerous learning opportunities among our chemical engineering and K-12 students alike.  In this presentation, we report on several features of this program including: 1) improved techniques for recruiting students to engineering studies, 2) stronger “visualization” of engineering concepts among our engineering freshmen and 3) a stronger sense of the need for life-long learning and community service among our engineering undergraduates.