A wealth of competition notebook resources and content is available to you through the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (RECF) and is collected here for easy access. We will add more information and resources to this article frequently.
Introduction
Professionals use the iterative process to communicate ideas and progress to other members of their team. Competition notebooks serve a similar purpose in our program as students develop written communication skills that may be useful in future careers.
Additionally, for teams, the competition notebook can be evaluated at competitions and is one way teams can provide evidence of a student-directed iterative process. One of the pathways to success in competition is the communications mission award, which includes a team interview and evaluation of a team's application of the iterative process and how well that process is documented in the competition notebook. The notebook is also an important consideration for several other awards within the competition. For additional information see the article Guide to Judging: Awards.
Ultimately, the competition notebook should be considered a tool and not an end in itself. This guide is an introduction to developing and using the notebook in an effective way. When used properly, this documentation practice will strengthen a team’s critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills.
Getting Started
The competition notebook is first and foremost a chronological account of design decisions. Whether the notebook is hardcopy or digital, it should always be a historical account of what a team has discovered on their journey. It should document the team's failures as well as their successes. Advanced teams' notebook will include enough detail that a reader could recreate the team's mission strategies or code following the documentation in the notebook.
What Should You Use as a Notebook?
Notebooks can be created as hard-copy books or digital versions. Hard-copy notebook can be as simple as a standard composition book and as fancy as a professional hardback notebook. Regardless of which book you decide to use, keep in mind that all notebook should adhere to the following minimum requirements:
- All notebook should contain a table of contents
- All pages should be numbered
- All notebook should present a chronological account of the team's work during a single season
If you run out of room in a hard-copy notebook, another book can be used. Simply number the first book “1 of __” and fill in the total number of books at the end of the season.
Who Should Write in the Notebook?
A competition notebook serves as a tool for all student team members: pilots, copilots, visual observers, coders, and everyone else who helps with the drone or its code. Any or all team members can write in the notebook, and every team member should contribute to it in some way. Many teams designate a single member of the team to be responsible for the notebook. This “notebook manager” can ensure that the book is kept safe and that all entries are consistent with the team’s style and overall goals. Regardless of who does and does not write in the notebook, all team members should be familiar with the contents.
Who Should NOT Write in the Notebook?
Advisors, coaches, parents, and any other person who is not a member of the team should NEVER be permitted to add things to a team's competition notebook. Everything in the notebook should be created and entered by student team members. If a team uses a digital notebook format, adults should not have write, edit, or comment access to the file(s).
Note about Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs or tools to generate or organize competition notebook content or programming code is also contrary to the REC Foundation Student-Centered Policy and Code of Conduct. What AI tools can produce from prompts or from building on existing materials does not genuinely represent the skill level of the team utilizing these tools. REC Foundation programs offer opportunities to learn a variety of technical, organizational, and interpersonal skills. Not all students will have the same levels of competence in these skills, but all students will benefit from the practice and application of those skills as a part of the engineering design process, of which the notebook is a significant part. The misuse of AI tools, similar to non-student-centered adult involvement, takes opportunities away from students to gain experience at practicing core communication, organization, independent inquiry, and decision-making skills.
What Should Be In the Notebook?
There are many things that can be put in a competition notebook, but not everything should be in the notebook. Major design considerations, pictures or drawings of strategies, and data collected from testing should all be included. Entries may be in the form of drawings, printouts, or text. All steps of the iterative process should be detailed in the team's competition notebook
The team should document their project and time management practices including their use of personnel, equipment, and time resources. The notebook should also include notes on the drone’s computer code. The use of sensors in the code and control of the drone should be clearly documented. A developed notebook would allow a person who is unfamiliar with the team’s work to take over the programming and be able to follow the team’s mission strategies based on a team’s detailed documentation.
Things to Leave Out of the Notebook
Quantity isn't always quality in a student competition notebook. For example, a notebook should not include the entire competition Manual or any other document that isn't created by the team. If content doesn't demonstrate the team's use of the iterative process to develop strategies or code the drone or is not a topic included in the competition notebook rubric, it probably doesn't belong in the notebook.
Notebook Organization
There is no universally accepted “correct” way to organize a competition notebook, but here are some tips to get you started:
- The team name and team number should be recorded conspicuously on the front cover of each volume of a hard-copy notebook; for digital notebook, the file name should include this information.
- If multiple hard-copy notebook are used, each volume should have “## of __” on or in the front of the book (e.g., if three books are used, they should be labeled “1 of 3”; “2 of 3”; and “3 of 3” at the end of the season).
- A title page at the beginning of the notebook should include details like:
- Team name, number, and school/organization
- A list of team members and the dates they joined the team; include an end date a member leaves mid-season
- Start date and end date of that specific notebook
- A table of contents should include:
- Page numbers
- Entry titles
- Entry dates
- Each page should include the following:
- Page number
- Title that describes the work completed during the work session
- Date of entry
- List of team members who worked that day
- Detailed descriptions of the work done that day, which could include text, sketches, photos, text plans/results, brainstormed lists, and ideas for the future
- Additionally, a large notebook may benefit from an alphabetical index of key terms and information found in that particular volume. This information would be added to the back few pages of the notebook after it is complete.
Criteria for Success
The Iterative Process
Each competition notebook is created through a concerted effort by a team to document the process they used in testing ideas and making decisions. Teams should start their notebook early and update them often.
In the Iterative Process students recognize and define a problem or challenge, brainstorm and develop various ideas and strategies, test their ideas and strategies, continue to improve their ideas, and repeat the iterative process until a solution has been identified. During this process, students will come across obstacles, encounter instances of success and failure, and learn many lessons. It is this iterative process that students should document in their competition notebook.
Refer to the Article The Iterative Process for an in-depth explanation of the typical steps used by teams.
REC Foundation Judging Rubric
All team members should familiarize themselves with the competition notebook rubric. The REC Foundation notebook Rubric is a scoring guide used by tournament judges to evaluate the quality of students' work. It lists all criteria that Judges consider when scoring teams' notebooks. Teams looking to meet the highest standards will need to focus on the expert column of the rubric. Judges will evaluate how well the team's notebook addresses each of these topics:
- Iterative Process
- Identify the Challenge & Analyze Requirements
- Generate Ideas & Develop Strategies
- Test and Improve Strategies
- Repeat the Iterative Process
- Usefulness and repeatability of the team's documentation
- Usefulness of the notebook as a tool to record team and project assignments
- Notebook includes evidence that it was created sequentially through the design process
When studying the competition notebook Rubric consider what each rubric point means, and what a judge might look for to quickly score a notebook on that rubric point.
Code in Notebook
Not every line of code from every revision of a team’s program should end up in a team notebook, but it's important that the Judges can see that the team's code was developed by students and show multiple iterations. Teams should remember that the Judges are looking at the team’s iterative process, including their code. The Judges’ job of reviewing teams’ work is difficult when there aren’t many references to the process used by the coders to develop and test the code. Teams that include documentation of code development as part of their notebook will paint a better picture for judges to evaluate their iterative process and be evidence of student-created code.
It is up to each team to determine how much code to include in their competition notebook. This will vary from team to team. Teams should include enough code to communicate their process to judges. Teams should record code development discussions and include examples, which could be as simple as pseudocode, as well as test results. For example, a notebook entry might include the definition of which sensors are being used, and may include snippets of exceptionally innovative portions of the team's code.
There is no need to include every revision of code in the competition notebook. Teams may wish to keep all versions of their code in a separate notebook or folder so as to track all of their code development.
Tips for Good Notebook
- Store your hard-copy notebook in a safe place.
- Make sure you have backups of your digital notebook if it's not stored in the cloud.
- Never let a non-team member add anything to your notebook.
- Start hard-copy entries at the top of each page and work down.
- All entries in a hard-copy notebook should be legible.
- Label everything you add to the notebook, especially sketches and photos.
- Use a numbering system to label figures and drawings so they can be easily referenced.
- Try to fill empty spaces with pictures, design drawings, or pseudocode.
- All work in a hard-copy notebook should be in pen or permanent ink.
- Do not use markers that can bleed through the paper in a hard-copy notebook.
- Document research and cite all sources.
- Show all mathematical work, not just the answers.
- Pages should not be added or removed from a hard-copy or digital notebook.
- Correct errors in a hard-copy notebook by putting a single strikethrough line; Judges want to see mistakes, too. This is a work in progress.
- Attachments such as pictures or printouts should be taped or glued in a hard-copy notebook. A written entry should accompany the attachment to validate its entry into the book.
- Document failures and wrong turns, not just successes and the final code strategy.
- Code development should be documented alongside strategy development.
For more information on Competition notebook the additional Resources for Students and Coaches.
Resources for Students
Competition notebook are as varied as the teams that create them, but there are some basic components that should be included in all Aerial Drone Competition notebook. The links below provide additional resources.
ADC Competition Notebooks
- Iterative Process
- Drones Guide to Judging Section 6: Competition Notebook Content and Design
- Drones Guide to Judging Section 7: Competition Notebook Judging Process
- ADC Judging Resource: Competition Notebook Rubric
Additional Resources for Coaches
Submitting the Competition Notebook at an event
When registering for a competition be sure to note the requirements for submitting the Competition notebook for Judging.
- Some events will require a physical notebook to be submitted at the event Team Check In table.
- Others will require a digital notebook to be submitted prior to the event.
- Physical notebooks may be converted into digital notebooks by scanning each page and saving as a pdf.
- Digital notebooks may be converted into physical notebooks by printing all pages and organizing them in a binder.