Strategic Action Plan For Barton High School Robotics Team

Action Plan for Barton Robotics Team 1
Strategic Action Plan for Barton High
School Robotics Team

Donetha Meyers
University of Arkansas Fayetteville
ETEC 6233 Research/Strategic Planning in ETEC
Dennis Beck
December 11th, 2022
Abstract / Executive Summary
This strategic plan is for the Barton High School Robotics team. This robotics team has
never won a match and have often found themselves unsure of how to proceed. Making a plan
for the team to put into effect next competition season allows the team to have a concrete path
to follow to achieve results. This path includes things such as teaching students and coaches to
code and building a team website. These things need to be sustainable and taught year after
year as students come and go.

Entity
Barton High School Robotics Team is part of Barton High School. Located in Barton,
Arkansas the school is a small, rural, Title I school (Arkansas Department of Education, 2021).
Minorities make up 41% of the student population. 100% of the students qualify for free or
reduced lunch (U.S. News, 2022). The robotics team matches the makeup of the school. This is
the first year since 2019 that there has been a robotics team at Barton High School due to Covid
and physical distancing guidelines. Historically the Barton team has never won a match and
have often found themselves unsure of how to proceed.
Rationale
There is a high turnover rate on the robotics team. Students lose interest, move away, or
graduate. There is also a turnover in coaches/teachers that is slower than the rate of students,
but still occurs. Currently coaches and students require help from other schools teams in order
to program their robot. If this continues the team will not be able to score enough points to win
a competition. They also lack a journal of their building process, which again hinders them
during competition. If this trend continues the Barton High Robotics Team will continue to have
no wins to their credit, which in turn will start to make the students lose interest in the team.
Stakeholders
Andrew Miles is the head coach of the team. He has no experience with the type of coding
needed for robotics. He is, however, good at the building portion of robotics as he has built
drones. There are two other teachers involved in leading the team - Elizabeth Hensley and
Amanda.Chaney. Ms. Hensley does have experience with robotics but is not always available
to be at meetings and give the time required to teach students. Ms. Chaney has no experience
at all and really doesn't know much about any type of technology.
Depending on athletics, there are anywhere from 12-20 high school students involved with
the team. None of them have done robotics before. They have minimal experience with coding.
Their experience consists of what they learned in middle school coding class. Since it is a very
rural district there was not always reliable internet, which means there were often days that they
could not practice coding.
Others involved with the team include administrators, community partners, and parents.
Administrators are mostly hands off, just supplying transportation and some funding.
Community partners are also hands off and just contribute funding and supplies. Parents
provide transportation for students and time. Some may become more involved as the
competition season progresses, but most work on farms and do not have the time to devote to
the team. There are some who are great resources for building the robot, but none that have
the technology and coding experience to be beneficial in that area (see appendix A).
Overview of Vision
In order to determine the vision of the robotics team a meeting was held (see appendix B).
The first portion of the meeting was just for the coaches. Through a discussion and a series of
clarifying questions (Indeed Editorial Team, 2021) the teachers/coaches came up with a vision
of what they want the robotics team to do: teach students skills that will help them be successful
in a professional setting after graduation.
Once the coaches had their meeting, the students were invited into the meeting. Students
were asked to use a visualization technique to think about what the team will look like in two
years. Some guidance was given to them (Logan, n.d., 5.5-5.8). For instance: Is the team big or
small? Is it made of good builders and great coders or great builders and good coders?
At that point students were asked to partner up and discuss their vision for the team with
each other. As partners they needed to come to a consensus on what the team will look like in
the future and write that down. Students then went around the room looking at everyone’s
vision and asking questions.
The technology vision for Barton High Schools robotics team really consists of two parts.
One part is what the teachers/coaches think the team should do and the other part is what the
students think the team should do. Barton High School Robotics Team will learn coding
and engineering skills that will help them be competitive at robotics competitions and
will be useful skills in a professional setting after graduation.
Looking at Our Technology
The technology evaluation of the Barton High School Robotics Team was conducted to
determine what technologies currently exist, if they are adequate for competition, and if students
are able to use them. The overall goal of the project is to help the team become true
competitors who can hold their own at competitions, while giving them skills that are marketable
in the workforce. To accomplish this, the evaluation needed to focus on determining if the
current technologies are useful, up to date, and if students could use them. These technologies
will greatly enhance the students' knowledge of programming, giving them a head start in a
career field that is growing (U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022), while encouraging
engagement in classes like programming, shop, and EAST (Education Accelerated by Service
and Technology).
The first data collecting technique used was interviews: both individual and group (Cassidy,
2006, 130-131).
Interviews were conducted with the following people: students, head coach, programming
teacher, and former robotics coach (see appendix C).

Email interviews were conducted with the programming teacher and the former robotics
coach. An in person interview was conducted with the head robotics coach. Group interviews
were done with the students on the team. Group interviews were chosen for the team because
students usually feel better about talking in a group setting. They can feed off each other's
answers and prompt each other's memories.
Prior inventory lists were also consulted. A current inventory was taken and compared to
the prior list. A list of requirements was also obtained from the competition website (VEX
Robotics, 2022) and compared to the inventory that the team currently has.
In order to prioritize needs, students met 2 times (see appendix D). At the first meeting the
DACUM technique was used (Altschuld et al., 1995, 189-193). Students were asked to think
about the requirements needed for each job on the robotics team. They then broke into smaller
groups and were assigned a specific job to write all the things that job would be responsible for.
After 30 minutes students came back together to ask questions and clarify answers.
During the second meeting students were introduced to the MoSCoW technique (Waida,
2022). The charts from the previous meeting were divided into 4 quadrants. Students broke
back into their smaller groups and moved the responsibilities to the proper quadrant. They then
surveyed the other groups and discussed until consensus was reached. At that point the head
coach and assistant coaches came in to double check everything.
This information was then taken and analyzed to create a prioritized needs list.
Questions asked
The following questions were asked during the evaluation. They are listed in prioritized order.
1. What technologies are needed for the competition? Reasoning: it does no good to teach
students to code C++ if the competition requires python programming or the other way
around.
2. Are students proficient in these technologies (coding and website building)? Reasoning:
students need to be able to use the technologies required for competition.
3. What technologies currently exist? Reasoning: If students can code, but don't have the
technology to do so there is no point to the team.
4. Are the technologies current or do they need to be updated? Reasoning: same as last
question
Potential barriers encountered during the evaluation process were:
1. Programming classes are virtual. Teacher has many students and doesn't know them
personally. Grades in programming can be verified, but not if students actually know the
material.
2. Students do not know what they do not know. Some think they are proficient, when in
reality they may not be proficient
3. Time is also a factor. Teachers and students did not always have time to answer
questions or take inventories.
Data gathered
Requirements for competition Present availability Student proficiency
Chromebook, laptop, or Mac Chromebooks - 3 for the Medium to high

team, every student also has
a Chromebook
Google ChromeOS 7+, ChromeOS is up to date Medium to high

Windows 7+ or Apple macOS
10.13+
C++ programming/VEXcode not available low
Website/journal of designing, not available low

programing, and building
process
Technology Needs
The school has bought new, up to date Chromebooks. They will work for competition. The
robotics team has three dedicated just for them and every student has their own as well. Since
they are new Chromebooks and this is the first year for this robotics coach there are no coding
programs downloaded or available currently. There is also no website journal for students to
keep track of their process in designing, building, and programming the robot.
Having a website journal is a big chunk of points for the competition. If the team has any
hopes of winning this will have to be taken care of. Also, there is another portion of the
competition that just tests the students programming skills, so that is a necessary component to
being able to win (VEX Robotics, 2022).
The students are at a low level when it comes to both building a website and programming.
They will have to be taught because the robot needs to be programmed by students in order to
be eligible for competition. A program will need to be downloaded onto all Chromebooks for
students to learn and practice.
Evaluation of findings
Going through this process of asking questions, doing interviews, and taking inventory a few
things became apparent. The robotics team has the necessary hardware, but it is lacking in the
software and applications needed to program a competition worthy robot.
The team needs a good, reliable coding program that can teach coding to students who may
have little to no experience with it. It needs to be a coding program that will be around for
awhile so that it can be used year after year. Supplemental coding programs should be
available as well for students who show proficiency.
There is also a need for the robotics team to build a website that can be used as a journal of
the whole building and coding process. This is a crucial part of the robotics competition that has
been missing in previous years (VEX Robotics, 2022). This website needs to be able to be
handed down year after year and updated with new information on that year's robot.
Action Plan to Bridge the Gap
In order to bridge the gap between where the team is and where they need to be two more
team meetings were conducted to propose solutions (see appendix E). The team used three
different tactics to come up with solutions: cause and consequence, brainstorming, and sharing
out (Altschuld et al., 1995, 249-252). The head robotics coach, Mr. Miles would be in charge of
determining final solutions from the list generated.
At the first meeting the team was asked to look at what the team needs and come up with
things that caused that need. They were then asked to visualize what would happen if that
need was not met. Based on that, they then assigned each need two numbers: one for the
difficulty of fixing the problem and one for how important it was to fix.
The second meeting was all about solutions. Students broke into teams and brainstormed
solutions for each problem. They then came back together and shared their solutions,
discussing and asking questions of each other. As a whole group they came to a consensus
and put stars by the solutions they thought would work the best. Ultimately the team coaches
will decide on solutions, based on student input.
Hardware / Software
Learning to code, having the software to program the robot, and creating a website ended up
being high needs. The software for programming the robot is available for free on the robotics
competition website (VEX Robotics, 2022). It just needs to be downloaded onto all
Chromebooks.
A website builder like Weebly will be the best direction for the team to go when building a
website. It is easy to learn and navigate. It is also free, which helps greatly (VEX Robotics,
2022).
Middle of the road needs ended up being new robotics building equipment. They have the
main components to build their robot. Students thought it would be nice to have some extras in
case things broke. They also want to have some of the fancier components that would help the
robot perform high point tricks. For this a justification will need to be written up and sent to
administration and the school board to get the funds or a grant written for the funds.
Students also decided that a need further down the road would be getting a laptop instead of
using Chromebooks. Students used the reasoning that laptops are longer lasting and easier to
use for robotics. It gives students something to plan fundraisers for and look forward to.
Staff Development
Currently students and staff do not know how to program the robot or use the software. They
rely on outside help from other teams to do the programming. Vex Robotics competition does
have software that is used to program robots for their competitions. They also have a learning
to code program as well (VEX Robotics, 2022). Downloading both programs will help develop
the team's ability to do the programming of the robots on their own.
At the beginning of the school year teachers have professional development days before
school starts for the students. Some of that time will be used for the teachers who are involved
with robotics to take the online training offered by VEX Robotics. There are eight units with an
exam at the end. Teachers will then have certification from VEX Robotics (who runs the
competitions) to teach a robotics team (VEX Robotics, 2022). It is a free program and can be
done over several days.

Facilities and Maintenance
The robotics team is currently housed in Mr. Miles' classroom. This does become a problem
because other students are in and out of the room during the day and cannot keep their hands
to themselves. The team needs a dedicated area where the robots will be safe and where they
can practice. This space needs to be found and agreed upon by the administration. Some
ideas include the wood shop, greenhouse, or possibly an empty classroom.
Finances
There is currently no money set aside or in reserve for the robotics team. They can get
money by submitting a request form, documentation, and a justification. These funds do not
have a set limit that can be asked for. If it can be justified, it can get approved by the
administration and the school board.
Community partners have donated in the past, and would probably be willing to donate again
if asked. Previous amounts have been anywhere from $100 to $500.
It is also possible to receive a grant from the robotics competition company or other
organizations. They have grants up to $5000. They just need to be applied for. Three grants
that will be applied for are:
● NEA Foundation STEM Grants (The NEA Foundation, 2022)
● CARES Act: The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
(ESSER) I & II (Department of Education, 2020)
● The National Science Foundation (NSF) (National Science Foundation, 2020)
If there are any gaps in between what can be gained these ways it is possible that the
robotics team can do fundraisers. These include things like selling candy or other products, car
washes, or even spaghetti dinners.

Budget Spreadsheet
Barton High School Robotics Team Financial Plan 2022-2025
2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025
Hardware N/A $5000 $1000

Robot Parts Laptop
Software Free Free Free
Maintenance 0 0 0
Staff 0 0 0
Facilities 0 0 0
Total 0 $5000 $1000
Timeline
This competition season 2022-2023
● Group interview
● Data analysis
● Students complete before task
● Get coding/programming software
● Start website
● Questionnaire
Competition season 2023-2024
● Informal survey
● Formal survey
● Data analysis
● Usage data
● Students compete after task, new student complete before task
● Website completion
● Team programs robot themselves with some outside help
● Group interview
Competition season 2024-2025
● Informal survey
● Formal survey
● Data analysis
● Usage data
● Students compete after task, new student complete before task
● Website completion
● Team programs robot themselves with no outside help
● Group interview
How Do We Know How We Are Doing?
Introduction
The person in charge of doing periodic evaluations will be the head coach, who is currently
Mr. Miles. It involves periodic assessments to see how the strategic action plan is progressing.
In order to see if the team is progressing in the right direction or if they need to make some
adjustments the head coach will conduct a variety of information gathering taks. These include
group interviews, data analysis, before and after programming tasks, and formal and informal
surveys (Chang, 2006, #). Most of the information gathered will be on how students are
progressing in becoming proficient at programming the robot for competitions without outside
help, and building a journaling website.

Methods
Group interview - Head coach will hold a group interview of students at the end of each
competition season.
● Get chart paper and break into small groups
● Have students answer questions
● Come back together and share out
● Discuss each small groups responses
Data analysis - Head coach will look at team scores at competitions. That will be compared to
previous years. Emphasis will be on the points given for the things being worked on by the
action plan.
Before task - Choose a simple coding assessment on the tutorial program for students to
complete at the beginning of the season. Have students see how they do. Record each
student's progress, time, and ease of completing the assessment.
After task - Choose a more difficult coding assessment at the end of the season. Record each
student's progress, time, and ease of completing the assessment. Compare this to the before
assessment to track overall progress of the action plan.
Formal survey - The head robotics coach will send out a formal survey (digital) at the end of the
competition season. All those who participate in some way with the team will answer questions
on how the robotics team is doing. The survey will collect both qualitative and quantitative data
about the team goals and needs.
Informal survey - The head coach will periodically hold a team meeting just about the plan, the
team goals and needs of the team. This will just be the students being able to give voice to how
they think they are progressing and if things are working or need to be tweaked.
Instruments
Group Interview
● Rate the season on a scale of 1-10
● 3 things we did well
● 3 things we need to improve
● How can we improve those things?
● Have you done what you needed to do?
Data analysis
● What was the score for programming?
● What was the score for the journal/website?
● What was the score for the asynchronous programming?
● How does that compare to the last program?
● Are the scores improving or decreasing?
Before Task -
● Student name
● Did they complete the assessment?
● Was it correct?
● What was the time to finish?
● Was it difficult to finish, or easy?
After Task. - Choose a more difficult coding assessment at the end of the season. Record each
student's progress, time, and ease of completing the assessment. Compare this to the before
assessment to track overall progress of the action plan.
Formal survey
● How are you involved with the robotics team?
● How often did you contribute to the team?
● How likely are you to participate with the team again?
● How has your contribution to the team improved the team?
● Do you have any issues with the team currently?
● Do you have any suggestions for the team?
Informal Survey
● How much time have you spent practicing programming?
● How is the website coming along?
● How confident are you in coding the robot right now?
Implementation
This plan will be implemented starting in the Spring of 2023. It will be implemented in
stages. Stage one starts with simply downloading the coding software and starting on the
website. It is too late in the competition season to really change much for this competition year.
Stage two will start at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. Robotics coaches will be
trained before school starts. Website will be completed with pages to show the students'
engineering design process as well as their progress in coding. Students will dig deeper into
learning how to code the robot, with the aim of completing half of the competition robots coding
on their own.
Stage three will start with the 2024-2025 school year. If there are new coaches they will
undergo training before school starts. Returning coaches will complete a refresher course
before school starts. During the school year the website will be updated with information about
the design process for the current competition year. Students will be responsible for completing
all the coding on the robot without outside help. New members to the team will begin to utilize
the coding training program so that they will be ready for next year's competition.
Following this plan will help the Barton High School Robotics Team become a team that can
truly compete at the robotics competitions. Communication will be the key to ensuring that the
team's vision comes to fruition. Periodic check-ups done by Mr. Miles will ensure that things are
progressing as they should. The periodic check-ups will also help the team know if they are
going in the right direction, or if things need to be tweaked a little. In 3 years the team should be
a team to be reckoned with.

References
Altschuld, J. W., Witkin, B. R., & Altschuld, J. (1995). Planning and Conducting Needs
Assessments: A Practical Guide (J. W. Altschuld, Ed.). SAGE Publications.
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Elementary and Secondary Education. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from
https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Files/20210311095710_2020-2021%20Title%20I%20Stat
us%20List%203-8-2021.pdf
Cassidy, A. (2006). A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning, Second
Edition. Taylor & Francis.
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Education: Some Concepts and Steps. UNESDOC Digital Library. Retrieved December
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Secondary Education. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Retrieved
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Logan, J. (n.d.). How to Create a Vision (or Compelling Goal) Statement. Building Capacity for
Change, 5.2-5.9.
National Science Foundation. (2020). PAPPG 20-1. National Science Foundation. Retrieved
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The NEA Foundation. (2022). Student Success Grants. NEA Foundation. Retrieved December
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ation-categories
Appendix A
Stakeholder Matrix
Appendix B
Vision Meeting Agenda
People who should attend: Team leader (Miles), other teachers who are helping for first part of
meeting, students in the later portion
1. Agenda (5 minutes)
2. Introduction (5 minutes)
3. Purpose of meeting (create vision) (5 minutes)
4. Clarifications (20 minutes) Write down answers in notebook
What students are involved?
What are their skill levels?
What do you want the team to look like?
What do you want to accomplish?
5. Creating a mission statement - what is the team for? (30 minutes)
2nd half of session, with students
6. Find the vision- (30 minutes)
Have them think about what the team looks like in 2 years and write it out. Partner up and come
up with main points. Share out (use flip charts and markers) Have a walkabout with questions
on sticky notes.
7. Determine values (10 minutes)
What do we need to get there? Flip chart again
8. Dilemmas (10 minutes)
What seems like an obstacle? Flip chart again
9. Write statement (done on my own time)

Materials needed - in agenda - in bold
1- pass out and read the agenda out loud. Ask if there are any questions.
2- Introduce myself and talk about my experience and why I am doing this. Have the other
teachers introduce themselves and give experience with robotics/coding.
3- The purpose of this meeting is twofold - to create a mission statement which will be our (the
teachers job) and figure out the vision of where this team wants to go (the students job).
4- Ask what students are involved with robotics or may want to join once athletic commitments
are over. Ask if any of them have been on the team before. If they have then what experience
do they have and is it with building or coding. Ask the teachers what their ideas are for what the
team should look like. Ask them what they want to accomplish by having a robotics team.
5- Now we need to create a mission statement. The statement should be 1 sentence that states
what the team is for and why we have the team. The rest of this conversation greatly depends
on the ideas the teachers have.
6- Greet students. Ask the students to think about what the team looks like in 2 years. Make
suggestions (is it big or small, simple or complex, good builders and great coders or great
builders and good coders, etc) After a couple of minutes ask students to partner up and tell
their partner about their vision. (5 minutes) Now come to a consensus on a vision for the team.
Once you have figured out the details write it out on your flipchart paper and hang it on the wall.
(10 minutes) Pass out sticky notes and explain that now they need to go to each duos chart
and make comments/ask questions on their sticky notes and place the note on the chart. Be
nice! (15 minutes). While they are doing this I will also look at the charts and find common
ideas and themes.
7 - Using those common ideas and themes, ask students how we are going to accomplish this?
What do we need to do to get to a, b, and c? Write the answers on chart paper.

8 - Using a new piece of chart paper, ask the students what could get in our way of
accomplishing a, b, and c? Write it down.

Appendix C
Interview Questions
Email interviews were conducted with the programming teacher and the former robotics coach.
Questions asked include:
● What program do you use to teach coding?
● What is the student's proficiency with the program?
● What is the student's proficiency with coding in general?
● What programs do you recommend for beginning coding students when not in class?
● What sort of things do students code?
● What program does the robotics team need to use for competition?
● What is the difficulty level of the program?
● What experience do the students have with the program?
● What strategies did you use to help students learn the code?
● How did students create the journal portion for the competition?
An in person interview was conducted with the head robotics coach. Questions asked were:
● What program does the robotics team need to use for competition?
● What is the difficulty level of the program?
● What experience do the students have with the program?
Group interviews were done with the students on the team. Questions asked to students
included:
● Who has taken coding?
● What do you remember about coding?
● Have you practiced coding on your own?
● If you have what programs do you use?
● Have you ever built a website?

● If you have, what program did you use?
● Rate your abilities with coding on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being don't know anything to
10 being I'm so good I can teach the others.
Robotics Website Information:
● What computers are needed?
● What program is needed?

Appendix D
Prioritizing Needs Meeting Agenda
Step 1 - Planning (no time needed) Meetings are held on Wednesdays. We will need 2
Wednesdays of 1 hour meetings to accomplish this. People for these 2 meetings are the
students involved in robotics.
Materials needed: none
Step 2 - Hold the 1st meeting
Intro (5 minutes): Explain that we are going to talk about the jobs on the robotics team and the
requirements needed to do each job. We will then figure out the priority of those requirements
so that we can focus on what is most needed. Explain the ground rules: no interrupting each
other, be nice, and stay focused.
Step 2.1 Explain key jobs (10 minutes): Programmer, builder, journaler, driver
Materials needed: Flip charts and markers
Step 2.2 Task statements (30 minutes): For each job we need to come up with what tasks they
are responsible for. They need to be actions, and they need to be specific. So saying
programmers program the robot is not specific enough. Programming the code to make the
robot go forward is better. Students will be separated into groups to work on task statements for
one specific job.
Materials needed: post-it notes, pens
Step 2.3 Review for clarity (15 minutes): Students come back together and look at the tasks for
each job. Ask any questions if they don't understand a task.
Step 3 - Hold the 2nd meeting

Intro (5 minutes): Explain that we are going to look at the tasks we wrote down last week and
figure out their importance. Explain MoSCoW.
Step 3.1 MoSCoW (30 minutes): Students divide back into their groups and move the post it
notes to the correct quadrant they believe it goes in.
Materials needed: flip charts, tape (maybe)
Step 3.2 Final review (15 minutes): Students will do a quick of each flip chart to make sure all
are in agreement, and that there are no questions.
Step 3.3 Verification (10 minutes): Robotics coach and assistant coaches will look and verify
that everything is correct.

Appendix E
Proposing Solutions Meeting Agenda
Meeting agenda 1
Opening - (5 min): Explain that we are going to do something called cause and consequence
analysis. We are going to look at what the team needs, and come up with causes. Then we will
figure out some consequences if it isn't fixed. At that point we will rate the difficulty of fixing the
problem and rate how important it is to fix.
Causes - (15 minutes): There will be some flip charts on the wall with the needs:
Coding/programming software, learning to code/program, creating a website, new hardware.
Students will be asked why these things are needed - what is the reason that each thing is
missing from the team right now. One person will write each thing discussed on the proper
chart.
Materials needed: chart paper, markers
Consequences - (15 minutes): Once the causes are figured out, students will brainstorm about
what the consequences would be if these needs continue to be unmet. The consequences will
be written on the chart paper as well.
Materials needed: chart paper, markers
Ratings - (20 minutes): Students will be given sticky notes to write down the difficulty they think
there will be in fixing each problem and meeting the need. They will place the sticky notes on
the chart paper. We will then discuss and come to a consensus on the difficulty. Students will
then do the same thing with rating the importance of fixing each problem,
Materials needed: sticky notes, markers

Meeting close - (5 minutes): Explain to students that we will continue this next week and to be
thinking of any questions they may have. Also think about solutions that could be put in place to
fix this.
Meeting 2 Agenda
Opening (5 minutes): Explain that today we are going to talk about solutions to all the things we
talked about last week.
Discussion - (45 minutes): Students will break into groups of 3 or 4 to brainstorm solutions.
They will come pack together and share out. There will be time for clarifying questions and
discussion. Students will star the solutions that they think would work the best. They will be
told that ultimately the coaches have to decide, but will take all of their work into consideration.
Materials: paper, pens
After students leave, the coach and assistant coaches will look at what the students came up
with and make the ultimate decision on which solutions to use. This may take a day or two.
Materials: paper, pens

Strategic Action Plan For Barton High School Robotics Team

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Action Plan for Barton Robotics Team 1

Strategic Action Plan for Barton High

School Robotics Team

Abstract / Executive Summary

year as students come and go.

have often found themselves unsure of how to proceed.

could not practice coding.

in a professional setting after graduation.

vision and asking questions.

will be useful skills in a professional setting after graduation.

Looking at Our Technology

teacher, and former robotics coach (see appendix C).

answers and prompt each other's memories.

coach and assistant coaches came in to double check everything.

students need to be able to use the technologies required for competition.

technology to do so there is no point to the team.

Potential barriers encountered during the evaluation process were:

reality they may not be proficient

questions or take inventories.

Requirements for competition Present availability Student proficiency

Chromebook, laptop, or Mac Chromebooks - 3 for the Medium to high

Google ChromeOS 7+, ChromeOS is up to date Medium to high

C++ programming/VEXcode not available low

Website/journal of designing, not available low

being able to win (VEX Robotics, 2022).

students to learn and practice.

software and applications needed to program a competition worthy robot.

available as well for students who show proficiency.

Action Plan to Bridge the Gap

determining final solutions from the list generated.

will decide on solutions, based on student input.

the team's ability to do the programming of the robots on their own.

done over several days.

Facilities and Maintenance

ideas include the wood shop, greenhouse, or possibly an empty classroom.

administration and the school board.

if asked. Previous amounts have been anywhere from $100 to $500.

that will be applied for are:

● NEA Foundation STEM Grants (The NEA Foundation, 2022)

(ESSER) I & II (Department of Education, 2020)

● The National Science Foundation (NSF) (National Science Foundation, 2020)

washes, or even spaghetti dinners.

Barton High School Robotics Team Financial Plan 2022-2025

2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025

Hardware N/A $5000 $1000

Software Free Free Free

Total 0 $5000 $1000

This competition season 2022-2023

● Students complete before task

● Get coding/programming software

Competition season 2023-2024

● Students compete after task, new student complete before task

● Team programs robot themselves with some outside help

Competition season 2024-2025

● Students compete after task, new student complete before task

● Team programs robot themselves with no outside help

How Do We Know How We Are Doing?

help, and building a journaling website.

● Get chart paper and break into small groups

● Have students answer questions

● Come back together and share out

● Discuss each small groups responses