What A Dream Wants

"Hello, I am Mr. Nye," The teacher introduced himself. His messy brown bangs almost covered his eyes. His dark brown eyes could be seen, through the strands of hair.

"In this unit, although we touch upon many subjects, the most important subject covered in this class is robotics." He said. His voice was heavy, sort of... bored and slow.

"Well, since there's no use for dawdling, our first lesson will start today." Mr. Nye droned on. "Don't sleep in my class."

He opened a presentation.

"When engineering, it's always best to have a design. Without knowing the compatibility of materials, the functionality, and practicality of what is being built, you might just end up with a flaming mess. Without a plan, you can't guarantee a good product. This is why there are multiple jobs in engineering. First, a designer who designs the product. Secondly, a builder who puts together the product. There also are smaller sub-occupations, like being in charge of economics, research, testing, and etc."

He paused. "No sleeping."

"This is why robotics or engineering is usually a team effort. Needless to say, there are many talented people who can design and build. But for this class, most of the projects will be done in teams."

He paused. "No sleeping."

He chuckled softly... which grew into a full maniac laugh. He calmed down after a while.

"For today, I'll be assessing the abilities of you guys, as individuals. I need to know the specialties of each one of you guys. In other words, a pre-assessment. Have fun!" He said, handing out papers to everyone else.

"Oh, I forgot to say this is just the writing portion of the pre-assessment, and yes, this pre-assessment will be partially counted to your grade."

Steven looked down at his paper. The questions were filled with STEM jargon he didn't understand, but there were also some questions he could answer.

The first few questions were already simple enough. They were questions based on engineering methods and defining a few basic terms.

The second portion of the exam consisted of situational questions.

'When using a phone, is it better to have more core processors or fewer core processors when trying to conserve battery life?'

'Which product is the most stable and economically efficient for its price, out of the three: Zinc, Alkaline, or Lithium is the most practical choice?'

'When looking for stability, is it better to use a synchronous motor or asynchronous motor?'

'These questions...' Steven groaned internally.

The final portion of the exam was to draw a simple sketch finishing a half-finished robot, using pieces in the picture bank. Each piece had a cost, a function, and many designs could be created using the variety of the pieces along.

'Alright class, time is up for the test. I'm sure it was simple enough. Pass up the test."

Groans filled the room.

"For homework, take these papers, they're some basic knowledge needed for the next test, which will cater more to building-robotics. It'll be like playing with legos, except you get a grade for it."