UC Davis has received more than a million dollars in grants for two research projects that use robots in the classroom. The National Science Foundation gave one grant to the school to study how robots and hand-held computers might help West Sacramento kids learn.
UC Davis Professor Harry Cheng is directing the study. He says recent research shows 75-percent of students who fail multiple times to pass a class end up dropping out of school altogether, " Developing the work force -our next generation work force- is very important because the U.S. is really falling behind in the k-12 education. This is the weak link in our education systems"
Cheng also secured a grant to integrate robots into math and
science classes in Sacramento. UC Davis education and engineering
students will help develop the curriculum for grades
K-through-14. Cheng says 24 classrooms will ultimately be
part of this study and teachers can start applying to be part of it
soon.