A recent study by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology found: “Economic forecasts point to a need for producing, over the next decade, approximately 1 million more college graduates in STEM fields than expected under current assumptions.” The shortage of skilled STEM workers has been documented in several research papers (Bayer Corp., 2012; Fadigan & Hammrich, 2004; Grasso, Callahan, & Doucett, 2004; Smith, Heck, & Worker, 2012; Tran & Nathan, 2010) and government reports (Beatty & National Research Council, 2011; Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century & Committee on Science Engineering and Public Policy, 2007; National Research Council, 2011; Nielsen & National Research Council, 2011). One proposed solution to this issue is to engage youth at a young age and throughout their formative years in STEM programs and projects, while inspiring them to seek out job opportunities within a STEM field. Teaching youth STEM through robotics allows the student to learn content knowledge of a subject area by applying the content in a real-world context. There are many examples of how robotic systems are used daily and this connection between educational programs and real-world skills enables students view the relevance in their educational programs.

Studies specific to LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT suggest youth gain problem solving skills, creative thinking skills and an increase in scientific-technological knowledge (Barak & Zadok, 2009; Barker, 2007; Chen Yuan, 2012; Lindh & Holgersson, 2007; Mosley & Kline, 2006; Nagchaudhuri, 2002; Slangen, van Keulen, & Gravemeijer, 2011). Other studies show youth who worked with LEGO®  Mindstorms®  NXT systems improved in-school performance in STEM related disciplines (Cejka, Rogers, & Portsmore, 2006; Panadero, Romaacuten, & Kloos, 2010). The inherently interdisciplinary nature of the Mindstorms® robotic systems encourages participants to use different types of skills and has proved to capture youth in long-term engagement which increases content mastery. Since the robot is created from LEGO® building blocks, youth have an almost infinite array of configurations they can build, inspiring creativity and increasing engagement. The incorporation of computer programming into the project allows participants to become more comfortable with technology and computer operations. The software of the Mindstorms® NXT robot is based on the LabVIEW platform, which is the industry standard in computer assisted data collection and experiment design. This makes the skills gained by using the software transferable to the workforce and higher education.