Moon Rover Challenge. An educational space robotics resource to teach programming and promote space careers at secondary education levels

Nowadays, space educational activities are essential in schools, in order to show the importance of space research and exploration in our daily and future life. Space related activities provides teachers tools and a fascinating context to get students involved in different disciplines which are ‘difficult’ for them. In addition, programming is one of the most important skills in technological areas. Space technology is full of programming, algorithms, and code. However, students’ perception is different because they think coding is difficult and they will not be able to program a satellite or a rover, so they are not very interested and motivated to learn to program. A widely useful tool to motivate students to learn programming is educational robotics, which uses physical robots and block-based programming interfaces to attract their attention. However, these robots are not accessible for all schools, and it is difficult to use robots in the online environment created by COVID-19. Therefore, online tools are becoming more and more important in education, because they make activities more flexible and accessible for schools and students. In this paper, we show an educational resource that used space robotics as a context achieving two main objectives: to promote space careers and teach and motivate high school students to learn how to program. We also show our conclusions and lessons learned, after implementing this project in two different situations. The students’ challenge is to control a Moon rover, which is on the Moon surface in order to fulfil a space mission. The activities can be performed completely online using an online simulation tool and block-based programming language. We tested the educational material in an online event with many high school pupils and also in a face-to-face lesson with pupils studying a technical module. The experiences and feedbacks were positive and allowed us to improve the initial activities. Moreover, the results show students are more interested in space careers after completing the challenge. Space robotics give us a perfect opportunity to introduce subjects such as programming, robotics, and technology to students. These areas will be essential in the future and we have to change perception of the space industry because it is fundamental for the development of space exploration and our societ

Teacher training on Educational Robotics: a systematic review

3noopenThis study systematically reviews the literature concerning structured training experiences with Educational Robotics (ER) by in-service teachers (ISTs) and pre-service teachers (PSTs). The sixteen papers selected highlight the relevance of these courses in order to update professional identity and to support professional development (PD) beginning with undergraduate education. Through these training sessions, both ISTs and PSTs adapted and integrated their knowledge about robotics and the pedagogy behind it, coming to understand the benefits that new technologies can offer. Therefore, they built a positive attitude towards ER and enhanced their self-efficacy. This enables teachers to properly integrate ER in the classroom, using a more conscious and less obsolete methodology. Consequently, they become, together with their students, active co- designers of the educational process. Finally, improvements in teaching methods and contents will significantly impact on the learning process, especially in terms of motivation and inclusion.openGiannandrea, L.; Gratani, F.; Renieri, A.Giannandrea, L.; Gratani, F.; Renieri, A

Robots in elementary school : some educational, legal and technical aspects

This article focuses on robots in elementary school. The authors present an analysis of a number of educational, legal and technical aspects. The article also includes an overview of literature on robotics in elementary school. In the second part a description is provided of more adequate equipment: LEGO Robotics and the LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX Intelligent Brick and Robotics Invention System, WeDo 2.0, Dash & Dot Pack: 2 companionable robots for teaching robotics to children. Next, the authors discuss selected legal regulations relating to school curricula, for example, proposals put forward by the Council for the Informatization of Education at the Ministry of National Education. One of the sections contains good examples of use of robotics in Polish schools. The position of the course of robotics (including elements of design, construction and programming of robots) in modern teaching in Polish schools is also presented, using as an example the experience of teachers working in Bielsko-Biala (Silesia region). Besides, research results of a study, conducted in Poland and in Ukraine, are discussed. Finally, the authors present their conclusions

The Development of Computational Thinking in Student Teachers through an Intervention with Educational Robotics

Aim/Purpose This research aims to describe and demonstrate the results of an intervention through educational robotics to improve the computational thinking of student teachers. Background Educational robotics has been increasing in school classrooms for the development of computational thinking and digital competence. However, there is a lack of research on how to prepare future teachers of Kindergarten and Elementary School in the didactic use of computational thinking, as part of their necessary digital teaching competence. Methodology Following the Design-Based Research methodology, we designed an intervention with educational robots that includes unplugged, playing, making and remixing activities. Participating in this study were 114 Spanish university students of education. Contribution This research helps to improve the initial training of student teachers, especially in the field of educational robotics. Findings The student teachers consider themselves digital competent, especially in the dimensions related to social and multimedia aspects, and to a lesser extent in the technological dimension. The results obtained also confirm the effectiveness of the intervention through educational robotics in the development of computational thinking of these students, especially among male students. Recommendations for Practitioners Teacher trainers could introduce robotics following these steps: (1) initiation and unplugged activities, (2) gamified activities of initiation to the programming and test of the robots, (3) initiation activities to Scratch, and (4) design and resolution of a challenge. Recommendation for Researchers Researchers could examine how interventions with educational robots helps to improve the computational thinking of student teachers, and thoroughly analyze gender-differences. Impact on Society Computational thinking and robotics are one of the emerging educational trends. Despite the rise of this issue, there are still few investigations that systematize and collect evidence in this regard. This study allows to visualize an educational intervention that favors the development of the computational thinking of student teachers. Future Research Researchers could evaluate not only the computational thinking of student teachers, but also their didactics, their ability to teach or create didactic activities to develop computational thinking in their future students

Engaging Students With Robotics At The Harry Fultz Institute And Beyond

Robotics education has become increasingly prominent worldwide in order to keep up with the growing need for technology. This project sought to engage students in robotics and initialize a conversation for the expansion of robotics curriculum in schools around Albania. With the help of Professors Klarens Hoxha and Moisi Xhaferaj, we guided the six student teams in the robotics club at the Harry Fultz Institute in Tirana, Albania through working in teams to design and build robots that competed against each other in a game. This was accomplished by developing lectures on the fundamentals of robotics, helping the students apply these topics to their robots, and encouraging students to reflect on their progress with their teammates to recognize the skills they developed

Mastering the Hard Stuff: The History of College Concrete-Canoe Races and the Growth of Engineering Competition Culture

This article details the history of college engineering competitions, originating with student concrete-canoe racing in the 1970s, through today’s multi-million-dollar international multiplicity of challenges. Despite initial differences between engineering educators and industry supporters over the ultimate purpose of undergraduate competitions, these events thrived because they evolved to suit many needs of students, professors, schools, corporations, professional associations, and the engineering profession itself. The twenty-first-century proliferation of university-level competitions in turn encouraged a trickling-down of technical contests to elementary-age children and high schools, fostering the institutionalization of what might be called a competition culture in engineering

Collaborative Robotics: More Than Just Working in Groups

The purpose of this study was to determine what collaborative interventions produce positive effects for students working on collaborative robotics projects for science process skills, collaborative problem solving, and learning motivation. In addition, the study examined the impact students’ prior robotics experience had on science process skills, collaborative problem solving, and learning motivation. The results indicated experience level and collaboration interventions can have impacts on students. Assigned Group Roles had positive effects on students’ motivation and collaborative problem solving. Experience level also had effects upon student learning motivation and collaborative problem solving with the Novice status associated with higher levels as compared with students who had more experience. A collaboration intervention was identified that has the potential to produce positive effects for students in collaborative robotics projects as well as assist classroom educators in the purposeful design of collaborative robotics projects with scientifically based strategies to improve the attitudinal outcomes for students of various robotics experience

Lessons from delivering a STEM workshop using educational robots given language limitations

Educational robots are increasingly being used in schools as learning tools to support the development of skills such as computational thinking because of the growing number of technology-related jobs. Using robots as a tool inside the classroom has been proved to increase motivation, participation and inclination towards STEM subjects at both primary and secondary levels; however, language has usually not been considered as a mitigating factor. This paper reports our experience delivering nine workshops in English, using Thymio robots, to over two hundred students aged 9–12 across a week in the French cities of Nancy and Metz. Our goal was to test whether students would still have fun, learn something new and gain an interest in STEM even when the workshop was conducted in a foreign language. Our results indicate that using language that is easy to understand, although foreign, has a strong direct correlation (p ~ 10-3 ) with having fun and that the latter positively affects learning and increased interest in STEM.</p

Robotika za djecu: nacionalne politike i inicijative u tri europske zemlje

This article explores the issue of introducing children between six and ten years of age ‎to robotics and investigates the use of robots in schools and in extracurricular activities. The central ‎questions are 1) whether and how the introduction of robotics is addressed in political strategies and‎ educational policies (RQ1), and 2) what the main actors in the introduction of robots in educational‎ settings are (RQ2). Therefore, a pilot study in three European countries (Austria, Lithuania, Romania)‎was conducted, which included an analysis of national policy strategies, as well as interviews with three‎ stakeholders per country. The article illustrates the specificities of the investigated countries presented as ‎case studies and discusses them in a comparative way. The findings show that the investigated countries’‎ educational policies aim at mirroring the Digital Agenda for Europe and that two opposite approaches ‎to implementation of robotics (bottom-up vs. top-down) can be identified.‎Ovaj članak istražuje upoznavanje djece u dobi od šest do deset godina s robotikom te ispituje‎ upotrebu robota u školama i izvannastavnim aktivnostima. Središnja pitanja su 1) je li uvođenje robotike ‎obuhvaćeno političkim strategijama i obrazovnim politikama i na koji način (RQ1) te 2) tko su glavni‎ akteri uvođenja robota u obrazovno okruženje (RQ2). Kako bi se odgovorilo na ova pitanja, provedena ‎je pilot studija u tri europske zemlje (Austriji, Litvi i Rumunjskoj) koja je uključivala analizu nacionalnih ‎policy strategija, kao i intervjue s po tri dionika u svakoj zemlji. Članak ilustrira specifičnosti istraživanih ‎zemalja prezentirane kao studije slučaja, raspravlja o njima i međusobno ih uspoređuje. Nalazi pokazuju ‎kako obrazovne politike u analiziranim zemljama imaju za cilj preslikati Digitalnu agendu za Europu ‎te da se mogu identificirati dva suprotna pristupa implementaciji robotike, odozdo prema gore i odozgo ‎prema dolje.

Systematic mapping literature review of mobile robotics competitions

This paper presents a systematic mapping literature review about the mobile robotics competitions that took place over the last few decades in order to obtain an overview of the main objectives, target public, challenges, technologies used and final application area to show how these competitions have been contributing to education. In the review we found 673 papers from 5 different databases and at the end of the process, 75 papers were classified to extract all the relevant information using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. More than 50 mobile robotics competitions were found and it was possible to analyze most of the competitions in detail in order to answer the research questions, finding the main goals, target public, challenges, technologies and application area, mainly in education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio