Category Archives: Robotics

Robotics Day in Aidan’s Classroom

Posted on February 14, 2017 by JohnHeffernan

I had the chance to do a robotics day with my son’s fifth grade class thanks to his teacher.  What a smart and well-behaved class! They did some super thinking, programing, troubleshooting, and applied math and they seemed to have fun … Continue reading →

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Dissertation Conclusion

Posted on January 14, 2017 by JohnHeffernan

Conclusion Development and gender were not significant factors in determining the EDP or the success of designs in this study with the exception of executive functions such as causal reasoning, which, in particular, showed some evidence of an age related … Continue reading →

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Dissertation Research Teaser – 7 Key Factors in LEGO Robotic Open Ended Challenges

Posted on October 20, 2016 by JohnHeffernan
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New Kits

Posted on August 25, 2016 by JohnHeffernan

New kits for school LEGO EV3 and LEGO WeDo 2.  It’s going to be a fun year!  

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Review of My Book

Posted on June 14, 2016 by JohnHeffernan

Nice review of my book I just noticed on Amazon.  Thanks, Ann Wyman.  Glad you liked it. I recently read the book “Elementary Robotics” by John Heffernan and I recommend it to any teacher interested in starting a LEGO Robotics … Continue reading →

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How To Make An Activity Timeline in EXCEL (Revised)

Posted on February 1, 2016 by JohnHeffernan

How do you produce a timeline of recurring activity types easily using EXCEL?  I had some trouble getting EXCEL to do this so I am sharing my technique here.  I use this in my research to characterize the engineering design … Continue reading →

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LEGO WeDo – Using a Motor and Two Sensors

Posted on December 2, 2015 by JohnHeffernan

Can students use a motor and two separate sensors with WeDo?  If you hook up the motion and tilt sensors to the USB hub and put a sensor  on top of the motor, it does not really work.  You get continuous … Continue reading →

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Started Dissertation Research

Posted on November 13, 2015 by JohnHeffernan

I have started filming for my dissertation research.  It feels like a big step forward with so much leading up to this:  13 courses, pilot study, comps, dissertation proposal, and so much reading!  I will be filming 6 second grade … Continue reading →

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Creativity and Elementary Engineering

Posted on September 6, 2015 by JohnHeffernan

In the theoretical framework of a new book called Engaging Young Engineers:  Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM (Stone-Macdonald, Wendell, Douglass, Love, & Hyson, 2015), the authors posit that there are 5 kinds of thinking developed by teaching problem solving via STEM for early … Continue reading →

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PHD – Bit of a Break

Posted on July 17, 2015 by JohnHeffernan

I passed my dissertation proposal defense in June.  The proposal consisted of the first 4 chapters of my dissertation.  These are Problem Statement, Literature Review, Theoretical Frameworks, and Methodology.  These chapters may have to change a bit depending of what … Continue reading →

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