High School is introducing an exciting addition to its curriculum next school year- the Robotics and Software Development stream. As part of the updated WAB High School MYP Design pathway, this new course allows students with a keen interest in these fields to dive deeper into their studies. 

Phil Smith, High School Design teacher and Learning Leader shares that the course has been structured to empower students to direct their own learning. Students have the flexibility to allocate equal time to robotics and coding or specialize in one area. Phil explained, "This is made possible by numerous mini-projects that permeate the course, providing students with opportunities for summative assessments at a pace that suits their needs."

This new course embraces a more hands-on approach where students use "Engineer's Notebooks" for handwritten documentation, as well as one-to-one interviews and narrated videos. Technology is the primary tool for writing code and creating multimedia digital assets. Phil emphasized, "The objective is to maximize learning time while capturing evidence of this learning in a meaningful manner." 

The robotics section of the course will primarily use the VEX EXP platform, while students will also have the opportunity to use the more advanced VEX V5 platform. The latter is widely used in high school robotics tournaments worldwide. Robotics is an engaging mix of robot design, hands-on building, and coding with manual and autonomous controls.

Regarding software development, Phil highlighted that students will assume the role of game developers. Leveraging the GameMaker Studio integrated development environment, they will design, code, and test their own games, employing a blend of pre-existing assets and unique creations. Students will also draw upon skills from other subject areas such as Mathematics, Art, and Music, incorporating realistic physics, sprites, and tile sets, as well as sound effects and musical scores. 

This anticipated design course will be offered to Grade 9 and 10 students in the upcoming school year.