The LEGO® NXT robotics system is being used as a tool for engaging middle and high school students in brief, single-session workshops as a means of conveying opportunities in engineering education and as a “conversation starter”. The author is beginning his third year of using the LEGO system in this context. Anecdotally, students, teachers, and school administrators, alike, are very enthusiastic about the potential for this robotics system to significantly impact learning in their schools. The program objectives have grown beyond the initial focus of using this robotics system as a recruiting tool. A broader objective now focuses on obtaining funding to place these robotics kits in strategic schools throughout Mississippi. Through this effort, the author seeks to establish relationships with teachers, teaming with them to make curricular enhancements—incorporating (or strengthening) project-based learning as a means of preparing students for pursuing STEM majors and ultimately STEM-related careers.

The use of the LEGOTM “Robotics Invention System” serves as a means for increasing student interest in STEM topics. Benefits include several complementary factors including 1) employing a platform familiar to many students (i.e. LEGO building components); 2) “seamless” integration of hardware and software systems; and, 3) minimal startup delays as a result of an easily understood symbolic software package and hardware components that facilitate “rapid prototyping” of devices. These features have allowed us to easily introduce the LEGO robotics system as the focal point in this particular aspect of our K-12 student recruiting system. Program activities to date will be presented, including observations of this program's strengths and weaknesses, and goals for future activities.

The author's first encounter with LEGO robotics was as a coach of a First LEGO League (FLL) middle school robotics team in 2004, sponsored by the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University. Coaching FLL for a second year and in the inaugural year of BEST Robotics hosted by Mississippi State University convinced him of the utility for robotics to convey STEM concepts and principles for any branch of engineering and science. The author has teamed with Emma Seiler (K-12 Outreach Coordinator for the Bagley College of Engineering)

Now using the LEGO robotics in his freshman chemical engineering course, a strategy is being developed for sending MSU chemical engineering students out to schools as part of our recruiting program. This combination of using LEGO robotics with the help of college student recruiting teams visiting K-12 schools brings a “service learning” component to the program—benefiting not only the K-12 schools we visit, but adding value to the undergraduate engineering experience in line with our chemical engineering program objectives and outcomes.

Recognizing the diversity of interests and skills sets we encounter at the middle school level, we have built our discussion around general themes, seeking to appeal to all students interested in STEM fields of study and practice. Particularly among elementary and middle-school student groups, we have emphasized the stream of coursework necessary to enter university study in preparation for these careers.