Implementing a Competition 101 STEM Lab

Competition 101 STEM Labs help you and your students to build a solid foundation for success by walking you through the key parts of a robotics season. From building and driving the Hero Bot to creating strategy, to attending your first competition, this STEM Lab will guide you and your students as they learn to collaborate and grow as a team. The following article provides implementation suggestions you can use and adapt to provide your students the best possible competition robotics experience.

Preparation 

Taking a few proactive steps can help ensure your success with a Competition 101 STEM Lab. Following the guidance in this section will help you feel confident as you introduce the Lab to your students and support them through each part of the experience.

Access the Coach Notes 

Coach Notes provide just-in-time guidance and facilitation support for you as you implement the STEM Lab with your team. While the team is student-centered, you as the coach can still facilitate practices and team meetings to help keep students on track as they build their self-organization skills. 

Review the 'Before you Begin' Section

The start of Session 1’s Coach Notes shows the Before You Begin Your Season section. Here you will see essential information to prepare you and your team for the upcoming season. 

This includes things like logistical planning, securing a dedicated space for your competition field and parts, registering your team with the RECF, and creating a realistic team budget, and links to help you as well. 

Each session contains it's own Before You Begin This Session note as well.

Develop a Positive Team Culture

Consider how you will support your team in developing their team identity, collaboration skills, and culture. Read this article to learn best practices for helping your team build a positive team culture that will benefit them throughout the season: 

• Cultivating a Positive Team Culture (VIQRC)
• Cultivating a Positive Team Culture (V5RC)

Plan the Best Use of Your Space

Having a dedicated practice area is ideal. When choosing a practice space, keep the following in mind:

• A VIQRC Field is 6' x 8'.
• A V5RC Field is 12' x 12'
• For both VIQRC and V5RC, approximately 2 feet of space should be available around the perimeter of the field, so students can fit comfortably around the field while practicing.
• Placing your field on risers frees up space underneath for storing items between practices.
• If needed, a VIQRC Field and game elements can be stored in a closet or other storage space between practices. You may need to break the field down into sections of Field Tiles that can be easily reattached when needed.
• Think ahead about where you will store your robot between practices, as well as extra parts and tools, and make sure students know exactly where things should be put away when they are not using them. 

Plan the Best Use of Your Time

• The sessions in the Competition 101 STEM Lab are designed to be flexible. You do not have to complete everything in a session during one practice or team meeting. Every team will progress at its own pace, and it is important to allow students the time needed to complete each session fully before moving on. Think flexibly about how to adapt sessions to meet your time constraints. For example:
  • Divide sessions over multiple team meetings - If a session has multiple activities but you do not have the time to complete them all in one practice or meeting, complete one, and do a debrief discussion with your students. Complete subsequent activities in the following team meetings in the same way, ending with the Wrap Up for that session.
  • It's okay to stretch a session - There is always room for improvement and students can always continue practicing driving the robot, driving or coding in Virtual Skills, or iterating on strategy. Then you can move on to a new session at the start of your next team meeting.
• Ensure your team can move forward, even when your whole team isn't present. It's common for one or more team members to be absent due to sports or other commitments, but you need to be sure the students who are present are engaged and learning.
  • Flexibility in your team structure is key. Be sure that more than one person is capable of fulfilling key team roles, such as driver, coder and documenter, so they can step in when needed.
  • Assign a team member or two the job of catching absent students up when they miss a practice or class. They can be responsible for communicating the progress of the past meeting and making sure they are on the same page with the rest of the team.

Facilitating Session Activities

In each session, the team will carry out activities to help them learn about the session topic. The activities are designed to be hands-on, lively explorations completed independently by students, in pairs. This section provides suggestions for activity implementation, so everyone is engaged and learning throughout the session.

Using Task Cards

A task card is a simple, student-friendly tool that helps each team member stay on track, reflect on their progress, and share their thinking with others. By giving every group their own task card—either printed or digital—you support their independence while encouraging meaningful group collaboration. 

You can use these cards to check in with students, guide conversations, and support learning without needing to direct every step. Task cards make learning more visible, interactive, and student-driven—key ingredients for a successful robotics experience.

There are a few key recommendations to help you make the most of task cards with your students: 

• Task cards are linked in the student materials in the activities for each session.
• Distribute the task cards to student pairs as they reach that step of the session. Task cards are designed to be use during activities, to inform and guide students as they work collaboratively.
• Task cards are editable, and can be adjusted to best meet your students' needs. View these articles for more information about editing resources using Google Drive or Microsoft Office.

Notebooking

Your team can choose between whether to use a digital or paper notebook, based on what works best for them. Give students an opportunity to test out different mediums to find out which best meets their needs.

Facilitating Discussion

Discussions are central to the meaning making that students do to build understanding throughout the STEM Lab. During activities, students should use the Discussion Questions on the task cards to guide their conversations as they work. Your role as coach is to circulate among the groups, listen actively, and help to steer the discussion in the right direction as needed. During the Wrap Up, students should take the lead in discussions. For younger or less experienced students, especially those in VIQRC, you may need to intervene more to keep the discussion on track. Use the following suggestions to help:

• Ensure each student has a chance to share their opinions and observations.
• Encourage students to back up their statements with data recorded in the engineering notebook.
• Ask follow-up questions that require students to dig more deeply into their own thinking. This conversation is an opportunity to learn more about how the student approaches problem solving, what the student needs to move forward, and any gaps in learning that should be addressed.
• If a student's answer does not align with what you have observed during the session, ask questions to uncover their reasoning. Be mindful that you are partnering with the student to develop a meaningful picture of their learning, and that it may take time and patience to gently draw out their understanding.
• The following articles have useful prompts you can use to facilitate engineering and coding conversations during the STEM Lab:
  • Facilitating Engineering Conversations with Students
  • Facilitating Coding Conversations with Students

Keeping Students Engaged 

It is inevitable that groups of students will finish activities at different times. Here are some ideas for keeping the learning going for early finishers:

• Continue working with Virtual Skills. They can use a spare controller to practice driving with Virtual Driving Skills Practice or code the Hero Bot in VEXcode VR. Virtual Skills is always available for multiple students to use at the same time.
• Research how other teams have improved their robots. Students can watch videos, read team blogs, or browse the VEX Forum to get inspiration and see real-world usage. This not only keeps them engaged but also fosters independent learning and innovation until the rest of the team catches up.
• Use one of the suggestion in the Engaging Students Who Complete an IQ Build Quickly. This article offers helpful ideas for keeping students using IQ or V5 engaged while others are still working.
• Be mindful that you will have students of varying abilities and needs on your team. For help in ensuring all students are engaged during the STEM Lab, read the article that matches your platform:
  • Making Competition 101 STEM Labs Work for All Students (IQ)
  • Making Competition 101 STEM Labs Work for All Students (V5)

Between Sessions

Staying organized and ready for the next session will help your season run smoothly. Try these suggestions:

• Plug in every robot battery, controller, and computer so they're fully powered. It’s helpful to designate a charging station where students immediately plug things in when done.
• Clean and reorganize your practice space.
  • Encourage students to return any spare part like pins, screws, or nuts to a labeled box or tray.
  • Make tidying up part of students' routine so everything is at hand and ready to use.
    • You may want to designate specific responsibilities for each student to do at the end of a session, such as Parts Manager, Robot Tender, Notebook Checker, etc.

For additional help with implementing a Competition 101 STEM Lab in your setting, PD+ All‑Access members can schedule 1‑on‑1 Sessions with VEX experts.