What is Idaho ROKS™?
The Idaho Robotics Opportunities for K-12 Students (Idaho ROKS™) is a University of Idaho Extension education program. Idaho ROKS™ promotes, supports, and manages a K-12 continuum of pre-collegiate programs designed to educate and inspire youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Idaho ROKS™ is the official FIRST® Partner responsible for managing FLL & FTC programs in Idaho.
Vision
All Idaho youth have opportunities to experience the excitement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as they engage in authentic, real-world challenges through an extended series of developmentally appropriate and high quality activities.
Mission
To promote, support, and manage a K-12 continuum of interconnected programs to engage K-12 students in authentic, meaningful, and high quality educational science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities. Idaho ROKS™ pursues its mission by delivering a series of interconnected, developmentally-appropriate robotics programs including: Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL); 4-H Robotics; FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL); and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)
Goals
- Increase and retain more students in the STEM pipeline.
- Measureable Outcome: Number of students in Idaho ROKS programs over time, number and type of high school math and science courses
- Increase the numbers of students matriculating into science and engineering at the higher education level.
- Measureable Outcomes: Longitudinal tracking of students participating in Idaho ROKS™ activities, their higher education decisions to enroll in science and engineering courses, and the number of youth entering STEM higher education programs.
- Increase development of critical life skills including communication, collaboration, social skills, planning, organizing, time-management, and problem-solving.
- Measureable Outcome: Life skills
- Increase student science and engineering knowledge and skills
- Measureable Outcomes: Student understanding of - the nature of science and engineering, science and engineering principles; Student competence in research skills; model building; computer programming.