Fundi Bots’ Robotics & STEM training program provides hands-on training in robotics, STEM and ICT for students inside and outside schools to improve understanding of school curriculum and to extend learning beyond the classroom (providing skills-training and future career development).
This program forms the core of our work and creates an implementation foundation for all the other programs within Fundi Bots.
Building a robot is a fun and exciting experience for almost everyone, because everyone who sees one almost immediately wants to learn how to make one. This willingness and interest mean that the student has given us the permission to teach them and is fully invested in their own learning.
Robotics is also a very interesting entry point to a very wide range of topics and fields of science, which creates a deeper, wider and more holistic approach to knowledge acquisition and application.
But, the truly magical part is that once students are done, they no longer care about the robot, but have picked up considerable interest in specific fields and topics. For example, they want to learn more programming to build games and apps and animations. They want to design better mechanical systems for cars. They want to build aeroplanes and rockets that go into space. And ultimately, they want to build solutions from problems they face at home and in their communities.
At the end of the day, the robot is simply a tool that enables, empowers and accelerates learning. The robot-building journey significantly changes mindsets and transforms students from students waiting in class to learn into people who actively seek knowledge for the betterment of themselves and the world the live in.
Over the past few years, we’ve been designing and upgrading our robotics curriculum. There are two new robotics curricula at Fundi Bots. The first is the Outreach Curriculum which is a 6-day training program which introduce learners to basics of programming, electronics and building structures.
The second is our more in-depth curriculum which is used in our Integrated Schools and Holiday Classes. This curriculum allows the learners to explore basics of robotics science and learn programming all the way to the point where they can program hardware. There are 5 variations of this curriculum to cater for five age groups we serve that is 6-7, 8-9, 10-12, 13-16 and 17-18.
These curricula range from a duration of 2 years to 5 years in length depending on the scope of engagement with the schools.
These curricula are designed to engage the learner in practical learning activities that develop critical thinking and creativity. Learners are encouraged to innovate and think outside the box. These skills can then extend to enable learners excel at other subjects in school.
The curriculum is also designed to incorporate the content the learners could be learning at school and hence helps with the cementing of knowledge for these learners while developing a string of soft skills.
In the implementation of the curricula, several formative and summative assessments are carried out. In addition to this M and E survey and evaluations are carried out at the start and end of training.
The data from these assessments and surveys serves as a guiding light for further improvement of the curriculum in question as well as the proper adaptation of instructional means to achieve the goal we desire.
We primarily work with government schools (urban and rural) who represent about 90% of our beneficiaries.