Software Systems for K–5 Robotics Education
- Timeline
- Overview
- Learning Outcomes
- Partner Organization
- Your Role
- Project Options
- Project Phases and Weekly Tasks
- Technical Requirements
- Team Structure
- Assessment Rubric
- Team Evaluation Process
- Submission Instructions
- Civic Learning Reflection
- Team Formation: February 16, 2026
- Project Start: February 16, 2026
- Community Partner Check-In Completed: Monday, March 16, 2026
- Final Deliverable + Presentations: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 (Lab, 2:30–4:00 PM)
- Duration: 7 weeks with scaffolded deadlines (note: Spring Break March 2–6)
In this capstone community project, you will design and implement a software system that supports a K–5 robotics education and competition pipeline serving low-income schools. This project emphasizes civic responsibility, ethical design, and community engagement, while giving you hands-on experience building real, user-facing software that addresses social needs.
Important: This project focuses on coding and developing software systems that serve a community need, not building physical robots. You will reflect on the ethical and social impact of technology on underserved communities.
By completing this project, you will be able to:
- Describe the ethical and social impact of robotics technology on public problems
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 5 - Participate in civic engagement activities by developing technology for an underserved community
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 5 and CL (Civic Learning) Outcome - Reflect on the nuances of public problems and how technology can address community needs
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 5 and CL (Civic Learning) Outcome - Design and implement software systems with user-centered design principles
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 2 - Evaluate system usability and accessibility using quantitative and qualitative reasoning
Fulfills QR (Quantitative Reasoning) Learning Outcome - Collaborate effectively in team-based software development with version control and documentation
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 2 - Communicate technical design decisions and civic impact through written documentation and oral presentations
Fulfills Course Learning Outcome 2
This project is developed in collaboration with the TMT Youth Community Foundation Pipeline Robotics Program in North Carolina, which provides robotics education opportunities to underserved K–5 students.
📁 Pipeline Robotics Program Reference Materials
This project is managed through the Riipen platform, which facilitates collaboration between students and community partners. You are required to use Riipen for the following:
Required Surveys:
- Pre-Project Survey: Complete at the start of the project to establish baseline expectations
- Mid-Point Check-In: Complete around March 6-9 to assess progress and address challenges
- Post-Project Survey: Complete after project submission to reflect on the experience
Project Management:
- Milestones: Create and update project milestones on the platform to track your team's progress
- Task Lists: Check off completed tasks as you advance through the project phases
- Progress Updates: Regularly update your project status on the platform
Communication:
- Employer Partner Communication: Use Riipen's messaging system to communicate with the TMT Youth Community Foundation partner
- Professional Interactions: All platform communications should be professional and respectful
- Timely Responses: Respond to partner messages within 24-48 hours
Access to the Riipen platform will be provided at the start of the project. Completion of all surveys and regular platform engagement are part of your civic learning assessment.
You will act as software developers and system designers, coding applications that enhance the user experience for:
- Youth participants (K–5 students)
- STEAM ambassadors (youth leaders)
- Educators and mentors
- Caregivers and families
Your work will directly impact real users and contribute to equitable STEM access.
Each person will choose ONE of the following projects to complete, forming a team around that project:
Design and implement a competition management and engagement platform that includes:
- Digital Competition Store with personalized recommendations
- Competition Directory:
- Tier 1 (introductory level)
- Tier 2 (advanced level)
- Community Forum with moderation and support features
- Team Dashboard for task coordination and progress tracking
- Livestream and Event Hub for competitions and showcases
Develop a youth leadership and engagement application featuring:
- Ambassador Profiles and achievements
- Interactive STEAM Challenges and civic robotics missions
- Gamification System:
- Badges and levels
- Incentives and rewards
Create a game-based learning experience using:
- Simulated robotic agents
- Multi-agent collaboration mechanics
- Progressive robotics concepts taught through play
- Age-appropriate challenges and feedback
Build a home-based learning extension with:
- Adaptive learning activities
- Caregiver support and communication tools
- Low-bandwidth accessibility considerations
- Progress tracking and reporting
- Asynchronous learning modules
or
Develop a physical robotics learning kit that families can use at home:
- Low-cost, easy-to-assemble robotic components
- Step-by-step activity guides for K-5 skill levels
- Software interface for programming the robot (block-based or text-based)
- Parent/caregiver support materials
- Connection to virtual mentorship or online community
- Assessment tools to track learning progress
Key Considerations: Affordability, safety, ease of use, educational value, accessibility
Your software system should demonstrate:
- User-centered design appropriate for diverse audiences
- Accessibility considerations for low-income communities and varying technical access
- Usability that accommodates varying literacy and technical skill levels
- Thoughtful design that addresses real community needs
- Ethical considerations in data collection, privacy, and representation
- All source code must be in the
src/folder - All written documents must be in the
writing/folder - Include a
README.mdin your repository root with setup instructions - Use meaningful file and folder names
- Follow consistent coding style and conventions
- Include comments explaining complex logic
You must provide in the writing/ folder:
- Community partner research and questions (
partner-research.md) - Due Feb 20 - Design document with architecture and requirements (
design.md) - Due Feb 27 - Final reflection on civic impact and lessons learned (
reflection.md) - Due Apr 7
Your project will be evaluated on:
- Functionality: Does the software work as intended?
- Usability: Is it accessible and easy to use for the target audience?
- Civic Impact: Does it address a real community need effectively?
- Ethical Design: Does it consider privacy, equity, and accessibility?
- Code Quality: Is the code well-structured, documented, and maintainable?
- Version Control: Regular commits with clear messages throughout development
Note: Teams were formed in class on February 16 based on shared project interest.
Deliverables:
- Community partner research and questions (see
writing/partner-research.md, Due February 20 by 11 AM)
Tasks:
- Review Pipeline Robotics Program materials thoroughly
- Research your target users (K–5 students, educators, families, or STEAM ambassadors)
- Identify the community need your project will address
- Prepare thoughtful questions to ask our community partner
- Document your background research and questions in
partner-research.md
Community Partner Communication:
- You will work on this project outside of class
- Contact the community partner via email with your questions
- You may set up video calls with the partner outside of class time
- Be professional and respectful in all communications
Deliverables:
- Design document with requirements and architecture (see
writing/design.md, Due February 27 by 11am)
Tasks:
- Incorporate feedback from community partner
- Define detailed feature specifications for your chosen project option
- Identify key system components and how they work together
- Create system architecture diagrams
- Design user interface mockups or wireframes
- Plan technical implementation approach (technologies, frameworks, tools)
- Define success criteria and testing approach
Deliverables:
- Working prototype with core functionality (code in
src/folder, Due March 13 by 11 AM)
Tasks:
- Set up development environment and repository structure
- Implement core system architecture
- Develop key system components
- Create basic user interfaces
- Write initial tests
- Document code with comments
- Track progress and challenges with regular Git commits
Status update from partner check-in (Monday, March 16):
- All teams demonstrated a starting prototype
- All teams still need significant development and testing to complete project goals
Deliverables:
- Revised implementation/testing plan in
writing/design.md(Due March 17 by 4:00 PM, end of lab)
Tasks:
- Incorporate feedback from the March 16 community partner check-in
- Modify the Development Phases section in
writing/design.md(do not create a new document) - Define remaining build, integration, and testing work with team ownership
- Commit the updated plan to your repository before end of lab
Required plan content (in writing/design.md):
- Week of March 16 milestones
- Week of March 23 milestones
- Week of March 30 milestones
- Final deliverable checklist for April 7
Deliverables (weekly checkpoint):
- Feature-complete core workflow committed to
src/ - Updated progress notes in
writing/design.md(completed vs remaining work)
Tasks:
- Complete remaining core features
- Address high-priority defects from partner/instructor feedback
- Validate end-to-end user workflows
- Update README setup/run instructions as system behavior stabilizes
Deliverables (weekly checkpoint):
- Test evidence/checklist committed in repository
- Near-final
writing/reflection.mddraft
Tasks:
- Perform functionality, usability, and accessibility testing
- Fix defects and improve reliability
- Finalize user-facing documentation
- Rehearse final demo and presentation flow
Final Deliverables (Due April 7 by 2:30 PM):
- Final code in
src/ - Final
README.mdin repository root - Final
writing/reflection.md
Individual requirement (Due April 7 by 2:30 PM):
- Complete peer and self-evaluation form
Final Presentations (April 7 Lab, 2:30–4:00 PM):
- Live demonstration of your software system
- 10-minute presentation + 5-minute Q&A
- Team Size: 2–3 students
- Team Formation: Form teams based on shared interest in a specific project option
- Project Selection: Each team chooses ONE project option (from Options 1-4) to complete
- Roles: Each team member must contribute to design, implementation, documentation, and presentation
- Collaboration: Use your team's GitHub repository for all code (in
src/) and documentation (inwriting/) - Accountability: Complete peer evaluations and self-reflections to ensure fair grading
Each team member is expected to contribute equally to:
- System design and architecture
- Code implementation
- Documentation
- Testing and debugging
- Presentation preparation
Individual contributions will be assessed through peer evaluations and Git commit history.
Each team member will complete a peer and self-evaluation form (Google Form) that includes:
Part 1: Peer Evaluation
For each teammate (including yourself), rate on a scale of 1-5:
- Communication: Did they communicate actively and keep the team updated?
- Timeliness: Did they complete work on time and not push tasks to the last minute?
- Work Quality: Did they put in genuine effort and produce quality work?
- Collaboration: Were they open to discussion, compromise, and willing to help others?
- Contribution: Did they contribute an equal/fair share to the project?
- Reliability: Could you depend on them to follow through on commitments?
Open-ended questions:
- Would you want to work with this teammate again? Why or why not?
Part 2: Self-Reflection
Your Contributions:
- List specific tasks you completed and estimate hours spent on the project
- Were there any circumstances that affected your ability to contribute?
Honest Assessment:
- Rate your own communication, timeliness, work quality, collaboration, contribution, and reliability (1-5)
Submit via your team's GitHub repository:
- February 20, 2:30 PM: Push
partner-research.mdtowriting/folder - February 27, 2:30 PM: Push
design.mdtowriting/folder - March 13, 2:30 PM: Push working prototype to
src/folder - March 17, 4:00 PM: Update the Development Phases section in
writing/design.mdwith your revised completion plan - April 7, 2:30 PM: Push final code to
src/folder, final README.md to root, and finalreflection.mdtowriting/folder
Additionally, by April 7, 2:30 PM each team member must complete:
Your repository should be organized as follows:
project-root/
├── README.md (setup and deployment instructions)
├── src/ (all source code)
│ ├── main application files
│ ├── system components
│ └── tests/
└── writing/ (all written documents)
├── partner-research.md (due Feb 20)
├── design.md (due Feb 27)
└── reflection.md (due Apr 7)
- Bring your laptop with working system, ready to demonstrate
- Be prepared to explain your design choices, civic impact, and challenges
- Each team will have 10 minutes to present + 3 minutes for Q&A
Total: 5 points (part of 10 points for all community engagement)
Your grade = Team Product Score − Contribution Penalty
All team members start with the same team product score.
- Community partner research quality and thoughtful questions (0.3 pts)
- Requirements and feature specifications completeness (0.3 pts)
- System architecture design quality (0.2 pts)
- Software design and architecture (0.6 pts)
- Code quality, structure, and documentation (0.6 pts)
- System functionality and completeness (0.5 pts)
- Testing and error handling (0.3 pts)
- Alignment with community need (0.4 pts)
- Accessibility and usability for target audience (0.3 pts)
- Civic impact reflection quality and insights (0.3 pts)
- README with setup/deployment instructions (0.2 pts)
- Code documentation and comments (0.2 pts)
- Git usage with regular commits and clear messages (0.2 pts)
- Demonstration quality and clarity (0.3 pts)
- Ability to explain technical decisions and civic impact (0.2 pts)
- Clear explanation of individual contributions (0.1 pts)
After calculating your base score (Team Product = up to 5 points), a penalty is applied based on peer evaluations and contribution evidence.
Penalty determined by:
- Peer evaluation feedback (communication, collaboration, reliability, contribution quality)
- Git commit history showing documented contributions
- Self-reflection quality and alignment with peer feedback
Penalty levels:
- No penalty (0 pts deducted): Excellent peer reviews (4.5–5.0 avg), strong evidence of equal contribution
- Minor penalty (−0.5 to −1 pts): Good peer reviews (3.5–4.4 avg), minor contribution concerns
- Moderate penalty (−1.5 to −2 pts): Adequate peer reviews (2.5–3.4 avg), clear contribution deficits
- Major penalty (−2.5 to −4 pts): Poor peer reviews (1.5–2.4 avg), minimal contribution
- Severe penalty (−5 pts): Very poor peer reviews (<1.5 avg), non-participation
- Exceptional innovation, complexity, or going above and beyond (0.3 pts)
- Meaningful community partnership engagement or user testing (0.2 pts)
Throughout this project, consider:
- Equity: How does your design ensure access for underserved communities?
- Ethics: What are the ethical implications of autonomous systems in education?
- Impact: How can technology support (not replace) human mentorship and learning?
- Sustainability: How can your system be maintained and scaled by the community?
This project is not just about building software—it's about using your technical skills to create positive social impact.
Your civic impact reflection (due April 7) should address:
- How your system addresses a real community need
- Design decisions made with accessibility and equity in mind
- Ethical considerations in autonomous system development
- Potential real-world impact and sustainability
- Personal growth in understanding civic engagement through technology