Qatar schools embrace robotics to boost participation in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
For Anthony Orme, an IT teacher at Dukhan English School, the past year has been a revelation. He’s seen first-hand the effect that robotics has had on his students. “The popularity of robotics has only grown since we introduced it last year at Dukhan and we entered the National Robotics Olympiad for the first time. We are sending around 40 children to this year’s event but, more importantly than that, robotics has led to greater creative thinking, independence and team work among students,” he said.
Orme’s school is one of scores around Qatar that take part in the schools robotics programme, GO ROBOT, which was set up in 2012 by the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) and Maersk Oil Qatar to boost participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
As part of the programme, more than 400 information and communications technology (ICT), maths and physics teachers joined training sessions at CNA-Q this year, including Anthony Orme.
“I went to several sessions at CNA-Q and gained around 30 hours of training that was invaluable. I was shown how to program robots, construct them and optimise their performance. Teaching methods evolve constantly and it is great to share knowledge with university experts and other teachers. Without these sessions I would never have been able to coach my own students,” he said.
Jacquie Nowak, the robotics co-ordinator at Hayat Universal Bilingual School, is another teacher who has benefited from the GO ROBOT schools programme. “This is our second year in the GO ROBOT programme. The several training sessions in robotics that CNA-Q provides for each coach is invaluable as learning about programming and construction helps us in turn teach more students about robotics. Ultimately that means more students become excited by robotics and in turn STEM-related subjects.”
Robotics allows students to drive their own learning; I have seen a noticeable lift in confidence, interest and creativity among students who have been exposed to the GO ROBOT programme. The robotics kits and game tables that have been provided by the programme’s sponsor, Maersk Oil Qatar, help to professionalise the programme and provide students with another competitive outlet apart from sport,” Jacquie Nowak said.
Through the generous support of Maersk Oil Qatar, the GO ROBOT schools programme has donated 500 robotics kits and more than 150 robotics games tables to schools in 2014.
With only a few weeks to go until the Qatar National Robot Olympiad, both Dukhan English School and Hayat Universal Bilingual School have been busy preparing for the competition by attending practice sessions, held at CAN-Q over the past two weeks.
“The practice sessions help to prepare the students for a real-life competition, where coaches cannot help them in the same way as they do at school. Competitions have strict time limits and test students’ problem solving, engineering and programming skills – all while working as a team. So the practice sessions help to get them in the right frame of mind,” Anthony Orme, from Dukhan English School, said.
Since 2012, around 8,000 students have participated in the GO ROBOT programme. This year alone more than 200 schools have joined competitions.
The organiser of the GO ROBOT programme and Dean of Information Technology at CNA-Qatar, Dr Theodore Chiasson, said 2014 has been a record year for the GO ROBOT programme. “Participation in STEM-related subjects is relatively low in Qatar, but through robotics many students become excited and engaged by science, technology or mathematics subjects. The endorsement of the Supreme Education Council has led to an increased level of interest, with more schools joining in the training and the competitions.
“Our strategy has always been to influence the students through their teachers and this year we’ve held 180 training sessions for teachers, which is a great sign of progress. The support of Maersk Oil Qatar has also allowed more robotics kits and games tables to be donated to schools around the country,” Dr Theodore Chiasson said.
