A Systematic Review of Studies on Educational Robotics

There has been a steady increase in the number of studies investigating educational robotics and its impact on academic and social skills of young learners. Educational robots are used both in and out of school environments to enhance K–12 students’ interest, engagement, and academic achievement in various fields of STEM education. Some prior studies show evidence for the general benefits of educational robotics as being effective in providing impactful learning experiences. However, there appears to be a need to determine the specific benefits which have been achieved through robotics implementation in K–12 formal and informal learning settings. In this study, we present a systematic review of the literature on K–12 educational robotics. Based on our review process with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a repeatable method of systematic review, we found 147 studies published from the years 2000 to 2018. We classified these studies under five themes: (1) general effectiveness of educational robotics; (2) students’ learning and transfer skills; (3) creativity and motivation; (4) diversity and broadening participation; and (5) teachers’ professional development. The study outlines the research questions, presents the synthesis of literature, and discusses findings across themes. It also provides guidelines for educators, practitioners, and researchers in areas of educational robotics and STEM education, and presents dimensions of future research

Social Competence Analysis of Science Teachers During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to analyze the social competence of science teachers. It was conducted in 22 SMP Negeri Dumai City with a population of 86 science teachers in public junior high schools. The research sample was 71 science teachers calculated using the Slovin formula at an error rate of 0.05%. The instrument used in data collection was a questionnaire that was pre-tested to 30 science teachers (15 science teachers at SMPN Dumai City and 15 science teachers at SMPN Duri). From the 30 items of the questionnaire statement that were tested, the validity of each item was calculated with the product moment correlation with the help of the SPSS version 23, 29 valid items were obtained. Calculation of instrument reliability using the Cronbach Alpha formula was obtained 0.931 very reliable category. Furthermore, the social competence questionnaire instrument for science teachers who had met the validity and reliability requirements was used to collect data for the research sample of 71 science teachers at public junior high schools in the city of Dumai. The results of descriptive data analysis showed that the social competence of science teachers at the Dumai City Junior High School was 54.90% (39 science teachers) in the medium category, 25.30% (18 science teachers) who had high category competence and 19.70% (14 science teachers) out of 71 science teachers in the low category. Thus, the social competence of science teachers in Dumai City Junior High School is mostly in the medium category

Development of Education Kit Prototype Based on Internet of Things (IoT)

In answering the challenges of industrial revolution 4.0, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) should be used as one of the learning curricula at all educational stages, especially at the high school level. Furthermore, robotics and IoT education are now becoming an important aspect to implement and learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. To support robotics and IoT education, an easy and user-friendly education kit as a learning medium is required. This work aims at developing a prototype of a robotics and IoT education kit that is suitable for senior high school students. The education kit is designed to be interesting and challenging enough to increase the student's interest in learning robotics and IoT. The kit is developed by using various independent and unattached sensors so that the users, i.e., high-school students can choose their sensors and can investigate the microcontroller pins that are used for these components. In addition, users can also learn to connect an electronic component with other electronic components on the kit to be able to produce various logical embedded systems that can be connected to the internet

Development of Education Kit Prototype Based on Internet of Things (IoT)

In answering the challenges of industrial revolution 4.0, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) should be used as one of the learning curricula at all educational stages, especially at the high school level. Furthermore, robotics and IoT education are now becoming an important aspect to implement and learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. To support robotics and IoT education, an easy and user-friendly education kit as a learning medium is required. This work aims at developing a prototype of a robotics and IoT education kit that is suitable for senior high school students. The education kit is designed to be interesting and challenging enough to increase the student's interest in learning robotics and IoT. The kit is developed by using various independent and unattached sensors so that the users, i.e., high-school students can choose their sensors and can investigate the microcontroller pins that are used for these components. In addition, users can also learn to connect an electronic component with other electronic components on the kit to be able to produce various logical embedded systems that can be connected to the internet

RoboSTEAM Project Systematic Mapping: Challenge Based Learning and Robotics

STEAM Education is nowadays a key element for our current digital society. Integrating STEAM and developing competences such as Computational Thinking is highly demanded by the industry and higher education institutions. In order to do so new methodological approaches are required. RoboSTEAM project is an Erasmus+ project defined to address these topics by using of physical devices and robotics employing Challenge Based Learning methodology. One of the first steps in the project development is the definition of current landscape in the research field. Which means to carry out a literature mapping that considers previous applications of Challenge Based Learning in STEAM education and use of robots and physical devices to do so. This paper shows the mapping review process and the main results obtained. The mapping analyze 242 candidate works from the most relevant bibliographic sources and selected 54. Form them it was possible to see that there are not many initiatives on STEM Education related to Challenge base learning and the most of them are specially focused on the application of specific tools and in the development of concrete competences

Where and how 3D printing is used in teaching and education

The emergence of additive manufacturing and 3D printing technologies is introducing industrial skills deficits and opportunities for new teaching practices in a range of subjects and educational settings. In response, research investigating these practices is emerging across a wide range of education disciplines, but often without reference to studies in other disciplines. Responding to this problem, this article synthesizes these dispersed bodies of research to provide a state‐of‐the‐art literature review of where and how 3D printing is being used in the education system. Through investigating the application of 3D printing in schools, universities, libraries and special education settings, six use categories are identified and described: (1) to teach students about 3D printing; (2) to teach educators about 3D printing; (3) as a support technology during teaching; (4) to produce artefacts that aid learning; (5) to create assistive technologies; and (6) to support outreach activities. Although evidence can be found of 3D printing‐based teaching practices in each of these six categories, implementation remains immature, and recommendations are made for future research and education policy.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [number EP/K039598/1]

A survey of good practice in control education

This paper gives a focussed summary of good practice taken primarily from engineers who are responsible for teaching topics related to systems and control. This engineering specialisation allows the paper to give some degree of focus in the discussions around laboratories, software and assessment, although naturally many of the conclusions are generic. A key intention is to provide a summary document or survey paper which can be used by academics as a start point in studies of what is effective in the discipline. It is also hoped that such a summary will will be useful to engineering institutions in drawing together and disseminating open access resources that are freely available to the community at large

Reading Aloud to Bilingual Students: Examining the Interaction Patterns Between Pre-service Elementary Teachers and Bilingual Children in the Context of Small Group Read Alouds in Maintstream Classroom Settings

Thesis advisor: Curt Dudley-MarlingFederal legislation now requires that all children participate in large-scale, statewide assessments in English in an effort to increase accountability and bolster student achievement (Abedi, Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004; Hass, 2002). Students labeled as "English language learners" (ELLs) consistently score dramatically lower on English language and literacy assessments than their native speaking peers (Au & Raphael, 2000; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Additionally, most mainstream teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the linguistic challenges that ELLs face in classroom settings (Lucas & Villegas, 2011). Reading aloud to bilingual students, specifically using components of a shared reading model (Holdaway, 1979), potentially provides an avenue for meaningful language and literacy development. While a corpus of research exists about reading aloud with English-speaking students, there has been limited research on its use with bilingual students in classroom settings. Drawing on a sociocultural theoretical framework (Gee, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978), the Output Hypothesis of second language acquisition (Swain, 1985), ethnographic perspectives (Heath & Street, 2008), action research (Stringer, 1999) and discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008), this qualitative study examined the practice of four pre-service elementary teachers reading aloud English texts (fiction, expository, and poetry) to small groups of bilingual students across four grade levels. The research was conducted to study pre-service teachers' language and literacy teaching practices and pre-service teacher-bilingual student interaction patterns in read aloud contexts to better understand their potential for bilingual student language and literacy learning. Additionally, the study provided beginning teachers with professional development geared towards helping pre-service teachers to meet the unique language and literacy needs of bilingual students. It was found that pre-service teachers consistently strived to develop students' word knowledge and support text comprehension. In doing so, teachers utilized a variety of teaching practices and linguistic patterns of interaction during read alouds which varied across teachers. The argument is made that these various teacher moves and discourse patterns led to qualitatively different types of interactions and affordances for bilingual student learning. Implications for mainstream classroom teachers and teacher education programs are provided.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction