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HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Complete this proposal prior to your projects start date and upload it in the UHP Database
(https://webapps.uc.edu/uchonorsstudent). Create a project (Add a new record) in the Tracking Project tab and then
upload your proposal document as an attachment. The deadline for submitting proposals is on the 5th of each month.
While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4 pages in length (single-spaced).
Please maintain the proposal format.
Basic Information
Full Name:
Ryan Day
UC Email:
dayrw@mail.uc.edu
College:
Engineering
Major:
Computer Engineering
Title of Project: Teaching kids robotics
Thematic Area (choose only one): Community Engagement, Creative Arts, Global Studies, Leadership, OR Research
Expected Project Start Date: 06/01/15
Expected Project End Date: 08/01/15
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
For my project I would be working in correlation with FIRST robotics to mentor a recently formed robotics team in
Canada and help them develop their team in a way which will inspire students to take initiative in making a better
machine, and a more cohesive team. For those who dont know FIRST Robotics is an organization which holds yearly
contest for students to compete in and as a team build a robot in a set amount of time under a set of conditions to perform
a task (a task which changes every year). Now this is a rather basic way of stating what FIRST does, but if you want more
detail you can go to the first website (located here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc).
I would correlate this experience with the thematic area of leadership for my honors experience. I believe that in showing
these students what it takes to become a successful team and working to inspire students to believe in themselves that they
can make a great program. My focus would be on working with kids to inspire them and let them try to take lead so they
can learn and gain experience in the fundamentals of a high achieving team. This approach would fall in line with the
servant leadership method of leadership and I this would serve as the major backbone for turning this project into an
experience.
I plan to spend at least one month with the group, working five to six days a week, and spend about five to six hours a day
working with the team. I would start by giving lots of information and direction as a leader, but quickly give away the
leadership and move to a servant position as I encourage students to fill in the gap of leadership. By the time I would
leave I would hope to have educated students about what it takes to make a great program, and given them motivation to
continue working at their goals of becoming a top tier team.

Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above)
My work connects to leadership because it involves myself taking the role of leadership in a group and inspiring the
qualities of leadership in others. The nature of the first competition is that it is a student led student driven contest,
with mentor oversight to help out. However as a consultant based position I would be giving direction to a team who
has lots of drive and no idea how to maximize it, and this role would support leadership development. In line with the
values set out by the honors department my project would involve relating and working with piers in an effective
manner and it would focus strongly on self-motivation and inspiring others as that would be my primary goal as a
FIRST mentor. It would allow me to practice leadership methods as well as pursue my goal of becoming a stronger

leader (explained in the next section), and it would allow me to use all of the above to help as a consultant to the team
in developing a vision for the future that lets the team see the impact of its own leadership decisions.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)
A. As discussed in the abstract a major theory being investigated by this project is the idea of servant
leadership. The concept behind this leadership style is a hands off kind of approach in which the
leader only serves to inspire others around them and give them some guidance. This model fits
perfectly with what I would do for the team because ultimately this project needs to be done by the
students for the students. However it still allows for me to enable students and help students as a
leader without stemming their creativity or stunting their growth. The servant leader believes in the
betterment of everyone allowing this method to adapt itself perfectly to the larger mission of FIRST
to generate passion and skill in the field of Engineering and Technology. Because the servant leader is
not a powerful or autocratic leadership style it is perfect in supporting students as they develop and
then letting the students practice stronger forms of leadership while being an always present fallback
for students to rely on.
B. My personal goal for this project is to work on my confidence as a leader and develop a stronger
voice without having to speak louder. This might seem counterintuitive at first to try and develop a
stronger confidence in leadership while choosing a servant based weak form of leadership, but the
opposite is true. Because the servant leadership method doesnt exert a strong force on a group you
have to be even more confident as a leader so you can really make your influence count when it is
needed, and then back out and trust your followers to do a good job.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
I think initiative and independence are the key factors here as the creativity would be stemming largely from the
students I would be working with. The initiative comes in from inspiring students and taking the lead when necessary
to encourage students and give them examples of how to get ahead. It would also come from helping to schedule/plan
the building of the robot and give the initial ideas to get the ball rolling for the students who can then take over the
project.
The independence aspect of the project comes from living by myself and managing to abide by the customs of
Canada. I have never been out of the US before so this trip would lend itself to being a very easy introduction to living
independently and outside of the US, which helps to grow independence. I would also need to be independent of any
mentorship, as I would now be fulfilling the role that acted as my safety net when I participated in the event in high
school, a coming of age type of experience.
5. Reflection
Throughout the project I intend to keep a journal of everything that has happened on the trip which I would write in at
the end of every day. I would analyze these writings about a week after I had finished my trip and then take some time
to think back upon my personal growth and everything I learned from the project related to leadership. To aide with
this I would try to focus my writings around the leadership pieces of my work and try to fill the entries with feedback
and personal thoughts on how what I am doing would apply to the servant leader methodology. By targeting my
journals around leadership I should have a large base of reflection material to work with when I return.
I would also ask for students to submit a brief review of me and my leadership style before I leave. Nothing long or
tedious just have them write down anything they want or anything they think I should know. I feel though most of the
comments wouldnt aide reflection much some of the comments could add key components and it would provide an
interesting third party source of material to think about.

6. Dissemination
For the dissemination part of this project I would discuss what I had learned with my old high school team and their
mentors. I would hope to better them as a team by giving them insight that I gained in my reflection, and hopefully
this would strengthen the mentorship in their team. I would also write a paper about what I learned about mentorship
and with my old teams permission, post it on their website for all other teams to read and hopefully to learn from, so
that students everywhere can have better mentors.
7. Project Advisor(s)
Professor Paul Talaga
8. Budget (if applicable)
Total Budget: $2000
Breakdown:
Gas - $200 (both ways)
Food - $600
Housing $1000
Passport/travel - $100
Unexpected/safety cash - $100