Bill Blogged - Survey says...

7/27/11 Bill Blogged - Survey says...

Good Afternoon Teams,

On the 14th I mentioned the results from the preliminary Brandeis survey had just arrived in house.  I've had some time to look them over and thought you'd like some details.  Participating teams were asked to have one mentor and multiple student team members complete separate mentor and team member surveys.

Mentors told us:

  • The teams they represent have been involved in FRC for an average of 5.2 years.  79.3% are school based and 28.6% of the school based FRC teams use the KOP in the classroom.
  • The FRC teams who participated in the survey have an average of 6.5 mentors and 22.7 members with an almost 3/4-1/4 male female split.  High School Juniors are the most represented class on FRC teams at 27.6% followed by Seniors 25.8% and Sophomores 22.7%.
  • FRC has had a positive impact on everything from student awareness of how math and science is used in the real world 96.1%, to student understanding of basic scientific principles 94.1%, to teamwork skills 95.6% and problem solving skills 95.8%

Student team members told us:

  • 0.4% of responding FRC students were on a JrFLL team in the past, 13.7% were on a FLL team and 5.2% either were, or currently are on a FTC team.
  • The majority of responding students indicated they were actively involved in deciding team strategy 89.9%, robot design 86.3%, robot build 86.7%, and fund raising 81.9%.  (Community service came in at 70.4%.)
  • 93.4% of responding students stated they had the chance to do lots of different jobs on their team, 93.9% indicated they had important responsibilities and 93.2% felt they were an important contributor to their team.
  • FRC students acknowledged the impact mentors had on their experience.  93.3% felt they had a chance to get to know at least one adult on the team really well and 92.4% felt they learned a lot from the adults on the team.  91.5% gained self-confidence.


We will be meeting with Brandeis next week to determine exactly what we want to measure in the upcoming longitudinal study and to determine the best way to identify and track participants.  The plan is to follow individual students from FLL, FTC and FRC for as long as possible to measure the impact FIRST has on their lives.  The information we gather in the study will not only help FIRST improve, but will be invaluable for fund raising, development and marketing.  If your team is chosen to participate, please do everything you can to ensure students return their surveys in a timely manner.

On a separate note, I mentioned last Friday that Saturday, August 14th 7-8pm ET ABC will be airing a made for TV special about the FIRST Championship.  Don't be surprised if the FIRST website has a temporary new landing page soon (like the landing page that appeared just before will.i.am's performance at the Super Bowl).  We're gearing up for an increase in public interest after the special airs.  You can help out by promoting the upcoming special in your area and by fielding any and all questions you can about FRC and FIRST as a whole.  With any luck, this special will generate more support for teams and events throughout the USA.

164 days until Kickoff
See you then!