Programming Lego Mindstorms for First Lego League Robot game and technical interview

Abstract

It is of great importance in the information age to equip children with the capacity to independently navigate in the flood of all available data and be responsible towards acquiring knowledge. We must provide a learning environment, where children can be enhanced to think creatively and develop innovative solutions. The article further presents the robotic part (a robot game with a technical interview) that is half of the multidisciplinary program First® Lego® League, which was brought to Slovenia by Super Glavce, the Institute for the Promotion of Knowledge. There is an overview of several months' work and the preparation for the robotic part of the competition, where children have to build and programme an autonomous robot that can complete as many tasks on the competition mat as possible in a limited amount of time. During this process a technical portfolio is made, where children record the progress, the problems and describe ways of solving the problem, explain strategies and present innovative solutions. The technical portfolio is the basis for the technical interview. The ways of working with lego robots in preparation for the First® Lego® League competition can be successfully replicated in class with the topic of algorithmic ways of thinking and programming.