Computer Science K-12 Program

Educational opportunities for teachers and students hosted by the UMass Lowell Computer Science department.

Botfest electronic jewelry
the Botball contest!
Botfest robotic pets

Spring Highlight: Botball Tournament and Botfest Exhibition
April 27, 2019

Some highlights of UML K-12 outreach programs in robotics and computer science:

  • Workshops– UMass Lowell offers a number of educational workshops for educators and students throughout the year. Details on these workshops are listed below.
  • Scholarships – UMass Lowell offers scholarships and grants to educators for Botball and Botfest participation, and for classroom and after-school STEM exploration in computer science and robotics, as funding allows. Details on scholarships are provided at workshops.
  • Botball is a national robotics competition for middle and high schools. We are the regional New England organizers! Tutorials for the 2019 Botball season will be Friday and Saturday, January 25-26 at the NERVE Center in Lowell, MA. But, you must sign up your team ASAP, Register at www.botball.org.
  • Botfest is an exhibition and fair that’s open to robotics, technology, and art enthusiasts of all ages. We also hold a set of workshops to help teachers introduce robotics materials to their classrooms in a non-competitive way. Botfest is open to anyone who can come and exhibit on our Lowell, MA campus. Register for BotfestPhotos from an earlier Exhibition. 
  • STREAM is a workshop to help K-12 educators utilize robotics as they teach STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. This workshop provides educators the opportunity to explore how they might use robotics in their own STEM instruction through interactive sessions, as well as through presentations by other educators currently using robotics as a way to teach STEM.
  • Artbotics is a program designed to attract students to computer science through innovative projects combining art and technology. Students develop interactive public-display pieces, using low cost robotics for embedded control.
  • CS4HS is a workshop and conference on computer science for middle and high school teachers, held on the UMass Lowell Campus. CS4HS is an initiative to promote Computer Science and Computational Thinking in secondary schools. This initiative is sponsored by Google, and supported by the Community Parnership Program,
  • Some of the technologies covered in our workshops are: LEGO Mindstorms NXT, Handy/Super Cricket, Parallax Basic Stamp, LEGO WeDo, and iSENSE date collection and visualization. Teachers also use other technologies and sometimes share these during workshop sessions.

Workshops:

Some workshops are held yearly, others are scheduled independently. Updates are posted as needed on this website.

  • Robots + Workshop, Introduction to Robotics and Scientific Visualization – workshop usually held in the fall, TBA.
  • Botball Tutorial (to prepare for spring competition) – January 25-26, 2019 at the NERVE Center in Lowell.
  • Botball Competition and Botfest Exhibition: April 27, 2019, UMass Lowell – Costello Gym
  • CSTA Boston Chapter, Computer Science Teacher’s Association Boston Chapter –UMass Lowell Computer Science department is a key partner with the CSTA. Workshops will be announced as scheduled.
  • Computer Science Education Discussion Groups – ongoing, upcoming sessions TBAR

Thank you to the supporters of the UMass Lowell 2018-2019 Community Partnerships Program:

  • Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank
  • Waters Corporation
  • Digital Federal Credit Union

 


Directions

Here is Campus Directions and Parking Information 


About Us

STEM workshops, exhibitions, competitions and activities in the UMass Lowell Computer Science Department are coordinated by Profs. Holly Yanco and Fred Martin and Phyllis Procter, Program Manager for Community Partnerships. Contact us at robots@cs.uml.edu