社区黑料

This is part of our Community Cultivator series, which highlights how innovators across all sectors build and sustain global communities from the ground up.

Imagine a world where baseball is a subject taught in school. Just one thing is missing from this imaginary curriculum: the students never actually get to play the game.

In September, they open their textbooks and read about the origins and rules of baseball. After winter break they take tests on pitching and hitting records set by the greatest players. By the spring, classes delve into the nuances of base stealing and bunting.

So what if they never swing a bat themselves or catch a line drive, right? It鈥檚 not like any of them are going to become professional ballplayers, right?

To Dean Kamen, this scenario is no more absurd than the way math and science have been taught traditionally.

鈥淒on鈥檛 give them the rules without letting them play the game,鈥� he exhorts. 鈥淣o kid would ever get excited about a sport like that. Schools teach the numbers, then arithmetic, then algebra, geometry, calculus. When do you get to use that stuff?鈥�

Kamen recognized that in order to get kids to really appreciate math, science, and engineering, and to see how fun it is, they need to experience it in the context of something that鈥檚 fun to do.

Using kits that the league provides, (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competitors build robots that execute tasks such as scoring balls into goals or moving on balance beams. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hands on,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not as a replacement for teachers or classrooms. It鈥檚 not an alternative to learning what鈥檚 been passed down by thousands of years of geniuses. I鈥檓 not suggesting that kids should figure Newton鈥檚 Laws out on their own, but in order to be good at it, you鈥檇 better learn a little algebra, a little trigonometry.鈥�

In other words, the best way to learn the game is to play it, and for 30 years the program he founded, FIRST, has proved that argument鈥攄istrict by district, school by school, student by student.

Better Answers, Better Questions

鈥淚 wish I had it when I was in school,鈥� he says.

A renowned inventor, Kamen founded and runs DEKA Research & Development Corporation鈥攚hat he calls his 鈥渄ay job,鈥� in Manchester, New Hampshire, where 700 engineers develop dialysis, insulin delivery, prosthetics and other solutions. But he didn鈥檛 excel academically. 鈥淚 was not a great student,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n school they give you a very prescriptive system. Here鈥檚 the problem. What鈥檚 your answer? Now compare it to the one in the back of the book. I always thought there might be better answers, better questions than the ones in the textbook.鈥�

The son of a teacher and an illustrator, he sleepwalked through his early education. 鈥淥ne subject after another after another,鈥� he remembers, a shiver in his voice. 鈥淢y brain doesn鈥檛 move that fast. I perseverate on a given problem until I think I have the solution. That鈥檚 what FIRST is. Looking at a problem with a fresh piece of paper.鈥�

His initial insight that gave rise to FIRST was that the thrill of sports competition could be harnessed for academic ends. The matches are fun and intense, and participants end up with something that goes beyond robotics know-how鈥攐ver 88% have more interest in doing well in school, and 92% are more interested in attending college.

鈥淭he message never changed,鈥� he says, recalling a brochure drawn by his father for the first FIRST challenge.

Brick by Brick

More than twenty years ago, FIRST picked up a partner that fit like, well, LEGO^庐. 鈥淚 said to myself, 鈥楢ll I gotta do is go to The LEGO Lego Group鈥�,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 jumped on a plane for Denmark.鈥� He persuaded Kjeld Kristiansen, the CEO of LEGO and grandson of the company founder, to attend a FIRST championship at Disney World.

鈥淜jeld was blown away by the passion he saw there,鈥� Kamen says, and that鈥檚 when he put forward his proposal. 鈥淚 told him, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e trying to get kids to stay with LEGO a little longer. Why don鈥檛 we create a kit together, and we both win?鈥欌��

Later this year, a new dimension will be added in the form of a partnership with the Star Wars Force for Change philanthropic initiative

The Littlest Learners

Along the way, FIRST has added new versions of its high school tournament, with the students getting younger and younger, the most recent addition being FIRST^庐 LEGO^庐 League Jr., for 6- to 10-year-olds.

To extend the baseball analogy, FIRST LEGO League Jr. is like tee-ball. It鈥檚 not the full-fledged sport, but to the little one playing, it sure feels like it. 鈥淲e hold the ball still,鈥� Kamen says, 鈥渁nd let them take a whack at it.鈥�

The junior league also fulfills community objectives by providing a feeder system for the more advanced levels. 鈥淲e realized we were losing a lot of kids before they get into high school,鈥� he says.

Everybody told Kamen that kindergartners couldn鈥檛 write code, but as with every supposed obstacle that FIRST has confronted along the way, the experience has removed every trace of doubt. 鈥溾�橲erious鈥� adults always say the same thing,鈥� Kamen explains. 鈥淵ou get all the reasons why that鈥檚 crazy. But it鈥檚 the exact opposite. The kids instantly adapt. They don鈥檛 even realize they鈥檙e defeating the other side. They lack the aggressive, competitive piece. They鈥檙e passionate about playing. They don鈥檛 realize they鈥檙e learning.鈥�

Eventually, the serious adults鈥攖he moms and dads and teachers and administrators鈥攃atch on, too.

The Growth Imperative

鈥淭here are two kinds of schools,鈥� Kamen says. 鈥淭he ones that have been transformed and the ones that have never heard of us.鈥�

In case you haven鈥檛 noticed, Kamen is not likely to stay contented for long. More than 600,000 students in more than 100 countries is not enough.

鈥淓very school we鈥檙e in,鈥� he marvels, 鈥渨e鈥檙e so deeply in that we transform the culture.鈥� He adds, without a trace of doubt, 鈥淚t鈥檚 more transformative than any other program.鈥�

Part of Kamen鈥檚 frustration lies in his point of reference. He鈥檚 after something much bigger than science fairs. He wants FIRST to be a sport鈥攚ith mascots, marching bands, the whole nine yards鈥攁 sport for developing the muscle between the ears. Lest anybody forget FIRST is a sport, the championships are currently held at Minute Maid Park in Houston and Ford Field in Detroit.

鈥淲e鈥檙e grassroots,鈥� he says. 鈥淓very school that signs on, it鈥檚 because of 鈥榤y mom, my cousin, my teacher, our company鈥�.鈥� He yearns for mass media coverage to fortify those deep roots. Not the high school paper, not the local blog (not this blog), but ESPN. Kamen won鈥檛 rest until FIRST captures a 鈥淒ancing with the Stars鈥�-size audience.

鈥淢y board asks me what I鈥檓 complaining about,鈥� he admits. 鈥淎nd I say, 鈥楴ow that we鈥檝e proven it works over and over again, why aren鈥檛 we available to every school?鈥欌��

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 社区黑料. Learn more here.