BlocksCAD Inc — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.6

Description

BUILDERS Classroom represents a revolutionary and transformative advance for teachingK12 students crucial skills for Computer Aided Design (CAD) spatial cognition modeling andComputational Thinking (CT).BlocksCAD Inc. will leverage the widely popular BlocksCADsoftware to create BUILDERS Classroom. BUILDERS Classroom supports Topic Area 8.6 -Rural and Community Development - with a focus on improving rural educational opportunitiesfor K12 students by providing a complete curriculum and teacher portal with class managementfunctionality lesson plans mapped to standards assessment and analytics tools and adaptivelearning features in order to teach STEM concepts such as CAD programming modeling andengineering design to elementary middle and high school students. BUILDERS Classroom isa subscription-model web-based device neutral tool that will complement existing practices andsupport students' progress from introductory block-style coding activities (e.g. Hour of CodeScratch) to 3D modeling designing and printing. In this way the BUILDERS Classroom willadvance student understanding of core STEM areas including Engineering and design Mathand CT and reduce barriers towards reaching underserved populations.The Innovation. BlocksCAD is a unique tool leveraging 3D design as a learning tool for avariety of STEM concepts. BlocksCAD was developed by members of the BUILDERSClassroom team and currently has over 35000 student and teacher accounts around the world.BUILDERS Classroom leverages the best of BlocksCAD to alter typical instructionalapproaches providing multiple integrated learning opportunities for a wide range of abilitylevels. Teachers using BUILDERS Classroom and assignments through their teacher portal willsee student improvements in CT spatial visualization math coding skills higher order planningand execution for projects and attitudes toward STEM areas while providing students plenty ofroom for engaging self-expression. Students will have the benefits of hints and feedback as theywork through assignments automatic grading and teacher comments on assignments. Furtherclassroom and student progress are tracked and presented in a Teacher Dashboard that allowseducators to easily see how their students are doing. And teachers have the flexibility to leveragethe existing support structure to create their own projects and assignments.The Value Proposition. Many rural K12 teachers and districts simply do not have resources to"go it alone" with complex and specialized curriculum development and class management. Thisputs rural students at a disadvantage lacking the "economies of scale" that more denselypopulated areas can leverage to offer a wide variety of programs. BUILDERS Classroomprovides a fully-integrated CAD curriculum with classroom management capabilities lessonplans assessments that map to state standards and crucial ease-of-use and turnkey dataassessment and implementation. Currently no CAD program or service exists that combinesprogrammatic CAD with classroom management or assessment capabilities. In addition noparametric CAD programs are tailored for elementary and middle school students. ThusBUILDERS Classroom can jump-start CAD training for students delivering this material earlierin the education pipeline and improving related student skills in math CT and coding andspatial cognition.The Customer. The core customers for BUILDERS Classroom are K12 classroom teachersafter-school and out-of-school education programs and school districts interested in STEMlearning Maker culture and expanded learning strategies. Through our engagement withteachers using BlocksCAD tools via the DARPA MENTOR2 program we have designedBUILDERS Classroom to reflect educator needs and include missing key features.