Engaging with the World: Sensemaking and Phenomenon-Based Science through VEX Robotics
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize an educational approach that guides students in studying both the natural and human-made world through inquiry, problem-solving, critical thinking, and authentic exploration. This framework aligns closely with the principles of phenomenon-based science and sensemaking, where learning is driven by real-world events and students construct their understanding. VEX Robotics provides a dynamic platform that effectively integrates these pedagogical approaches, fostering deeper engagement and critical thinking in students.
What is Phenomenon-Based Science and Sensemaking?
At its core, phenomenon-based science focuses on engaging students with observable events or "phenomena" to drive their learning. Rather than simply memorizing facts, students investigate these phenomena, asking questions, developing models, and constructing explanations. This process naturally leads to sensemaking, which is the active construction of understanding as students try to figure out how or why something happens. The NGSS are built around three dimensions: science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts, all integrated to support this type of learning.
Credit: Next Generation Science Standards
VEX Robotics: A Platform for Authentic Exploration
VEX Robotics offers a tangible, interactive environment for students to engage with real-world problems. Whether through VEX IQ, VEX AIM, or VEX CTE, students can code mobile robots or a 6-Axis Robotic Arm to interact with their surroundings and collect data using various sensors. These hands-on activities provide authentic challenges that require students to apply mathematical, scientific, and engineering concepts.
Connecting the Dots: VEX and Phenomenon-Based Learning
VEX activities inherently support phenomenon-based science and sensemaking through several key avenues:
1. Data Collection and Analysis for Scientific Inquiry
Projects that involve data logging are direct examples of scientific inquiry. Students code their robots to collect data from the robot’s sensors. For instance, a project can collect acceleration data from the VEX IQ Brain's built-in Inertial Sensor and store it in a CSV file on an SD card. This data can then be opened in spreadsheet applications, like Google Sheets, for analysis, including drawing graphs to observe trends. This hands-on process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data directly aligns with the "Analyzing and Interpreting Data" Science and Engineering Practice outlined in the NGSS. Students are not just given data; they are actively involved in generating it from a real-world robot's interaction with its environment, making sense of the physical phenomenon of motion and its measurements.
2. Real-World Problem Solving with Mathematical Application
The VEX GO Parade Float STEM Labs present students with authentic challenges that require mathematical calculations to solve physical phenomena.
- In the Calculating Distance Lab, students measure the distance a Code Base travels with one wheel rotation, and use this to calculate the number of rotations needed to traverse a parade route. They learn to use mathematical calculations to solve an authentic challenge.
- Similarly, the Turning Lab tasks students with calculating the number of wheel rotations necessary for the robot to execute turns, applying the circumference formula (C=πD) to determine the distance for a 360-degree turn. These activities foster sensemaking by making abstract mathematical concepts concrete and directly applicable to robot behavior. Students make meaning of how to use mathematical formulas and calculations to solve an authentic challenge.
3. VEX AIM: An Introduction to Phenomenon-Driven Robotics and Coding
The VEX AIM Intro Course is purposefully designed to promote phenomenon-based learning and sensemaking by immersing students in structured yet open-ended explorations of robotics and computational thinking. Each unit in AIM is anchored by a video of the AIM robot performing a task which serves as the central phenomenon driving inquiry. Students begin each unit by observing these events and engaging in guided discussions that prompt them to ask questions, identify problems, and articulate success criteria.
From the earliest lessons involving driving with a controller and gentle object manipulation, to advanced programming using AI Vision sensors, the VEX AIM Intro Course scaffolds increasingly sophisticated ways of interacting with the robot and the environment. Students are not only engaging with coding and robotics, but also developing computational models, testing hypotheses, debugging code, and refining both physical and digital artifacts in response to real data, all core components of the NGSS three-dimensional learning framework.
Promoting Transfer and Equity Through Hands-On Design
The VEX AIM Intro Course also incorporates principles from Universal Design for Learning and Ambitious Science Teaching to support meaningful learning and equitable access. Each unit is designed around student-centered assessment, where learners have multiple, flexible ways to demonstrate what they know and can do.
Whether through live demonstrations, written reflections, peer instruction, or multimedia presentations, students choose the format that best fits their learning style and strengths. Instructional routines emphasize collaborative sensemaking, with learning targets and success criteria co-created by students and teachers to clarify expectations and deepen engagement. Classrooms become active communities of learners, where ideas are shared, tested, and refined through discourse and hands-on experimentation.
These practices mirror Ambitious Science Teaching’s focus on making student thinking visible, revising ideas over time, and building shared understanding through evidence and dialogue. In AIM, assessment is not something done to students, instead it’s something built with them, empowering all learners to take ownership of their growth as thinkers, designers, and problem solvers.
When we give students real problems to solve, and robust platforms to investigate them, we support deeper thinking, stronger collaboration, and lasting understanding. The VEX Robotics Continuum doesn’t just teach coding or engineering; it creates space for students to ask meaningful questions, test ideas, and revise their thinking over time. Through hands-on design, data analysis, and open-ended exploration, students aren’t just learning about science and technology, they’re learning how to think like scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers in the real world.