Demand



Trying to measure or manipulate demand for a new elective is a challenge. Polling methods are inexact at best. Students may say they want to take the course, but later opt for a required course. But with the idea that it's better to have too much demand rather than too little, I tried to promote robotics at Corvallis High School as a fun activity, and getting the FIRST grant from NASA allowed us to use robotics in a sports-like manner. We build, train, have a season, and go to matches. I couldn't promise students that it would be offered in my class, or in a new class, until it was officially part of the curriculum - and that never happened. Referring to the chart above, it was very unclear how much existing demand there may have been in the community. With the rising popularity of TV programs such as Robotica and Robot Wars, I expected there to be at least some residual interest. The government (NASA) clearly has an interest. Promotion of robotics helps their goals specifically, and out nation's goal generally in maintaining a technological edge. I my two classes I showed a robotics competition video (A&E Network, "The Competition" series) and did a fair amount of rallying. Two other teachers borrowed the video to show their classes. I also loaned the video to 3 other schools. At the Oregon FIRST Robotic Rally, we had two TV robots there to do demonstrations. The local news media ran articles on us AFTER we went to the Seattle competition. This was better than no coverage, but was not what I wanted.