Robot Uprising FIRST Tech Challenge Team from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, US  is mentoring Government Polytechnic Anantapur students in India, under the auspices of VFF USA/RDT. You can see below the interview with Shirdi Palle, one of the mentoring students.

 Tell me about your team’s recent collaboration with students from Anantapur Government Polytechnic
We have multiple sessions with the students of Anantapur Government Polytechnic college. In each session, we go over various topics in Python. On the Google Classroom platform, we provide different materials for the students. We post one homework assignment related to what we have taught in the lesson and a quiz, so students are able to test themselves on the materials. The quizzes are also helpful for us because it demonstrates the effectiveness of our lessons so we can modify our lesson plans if we need to. Additionally, we add a recording of our meeting and the slideshow that we teach in the class.

How many students from your team are participating?
All our students are engaged in the mentoring process with the students in India, but in each session, generally, there is 1 teacher and two teacher assistants.

Robot Uprising FIRST Tech Challenge Team from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, US

What is the most exciting part of the mentoring session?
The most exciting part has been being able to connect with other students across the world. This forced our team to think outside the box and really have an open mind. This collaboration has helped us to critically think, be culturally aware, be creative, problem solve and be better communicators.

What are the reasons that your team is enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge on robotics? And how do you believe it would help the students attending those sessions?
Robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are rapidly becoming important collaborations in education and the world economy. Many universities and teachers are initiating to integrate these into their chapters. We think that different aspects of robotics can be applied to other areas of life, not only STEM.

That’s why our Team is enthusiastic about sharing the knowledge on robotics and STEM and that’s why we strongly believe that it will help the students attending these sessions as when these concepts are introduced to students they are introduced to more opportunities where there are high chances of succeeding in life while nurturing important skills.

Robot Uprising FIRST Tech Challenge Team with one of their projects

Have your team encountered any challenges during the sessions?

Our team ran into technical challenges as we had Broadband/ WIFI problems along with a slow connection. To combat this, the Teaching Assistants made sure to let the instructor know so that he could repeat what he just said to ensure comprehension. Also, the recording sessions were made available so the students can review them later on.

Vicente Ferrer Foundation USA provides scholarships to rural girls who want to pursue a career in STEM. Do more girls need to join the STEM workforce? What are the significant challenges that girls face in pursuing a STEM career?

Absolutely more girls should pursue a career in STEM and join the STEM workforce because it increases diversity in STEM. The STEM gender gap is real. Across the world, women make up less than a third of those that are employed in STEM-related fields. Female students take math and science courses in middle school however in high school, the gap widens as fewer young girls choose to participate in STEM-related courses. This is due to gender stereotypes. After high school, society’s expectations surrounding what roles and what college degrees women can pursue or roles that they can fill in make them decide their majors that are non-related to STEM. Few women who do decide to enter the STEM world code face discrimination. They are eventually paid less than their male counterparts and feel unappreciated in the workforce, resulting in isolation, lack of mentorship and role models and ultimately quitting the jobs due to lack of career prospects and growth.

Does your team plan to meet the mentees in person and interact with them?

We would love to have the opportunity to meet in person and interact with the students.

What three takeaways from the sessions would you like to share with your classmates and our readers?
Technology and Innovation will open new avenues and opportunities for anybody and everybody regardless of where they live and hence need to be explored to solve the biggest threats our globe is facing such as world hunger and climate crisis.

Mentoring and being mentored is the biggest gift we can give to each other for the betterment of humankind and hope the gift will be an endless chain.

Breaking down the social and gender stereotypes that tell girls they can’t do science and technology careers and giving them equal opportunities to pursue — and thrive in STEM careers to help narrow the gender pay gap and enhance their economic security and ensure a diverse and talented STEM workforce.

Robot Uprising FIRST Tech Challenge Team https://www.robotuprising.org/

To support VFF USA STEM scholarship project: https://vffusa.networkforgood.com/projects/154548-a-special-education-scholarship-program-for-girls