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

Elementary Educators\u27 Attitudes about the Utility of Educational Robotics and Their Ability and Intent to Use It with Students

Educational robotics (ER) combines accessible and age-appropriate building materials, programmable interfaces, and computer coding to teach science and mathematics using the engineering design process. ER has been shown to increase K-12 students\u27 understanding of STEM concepts, and can develop students\u27 self-confidence and interest in STEM. As educators struggle to adapt their current science teaching practices to meet the new interdisciplinary nature of the Next Generation Science Standards, ER has the potential to simultaneously integrate STEM disciplines, engage and inspire students in mathematics and science, and build connections to STEM careers. One challenge is a lack of documented models for preparing educators, particularly at the elementary level, to effectively use robotics in their classrooms. The lack of scholarship on appropriate robotics platforms for elementary learners, reliable techniques of delivering professional development in ER, or standardized instruments that can reliably measure elementary educators\u27 self-efficacy with robotics suggests there is a need for such research. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a four-hour, hands-on, ER professional development workshop on K-5th grade educators\u27 attitudes about their ability to teach ER, the value (utility) of the technology, and their desire to use it (intent). An 18-question survey was administered before (pre-) and after (post-) the workshop, as well as a third time after educators had an opportunity to use robotics with students (post-post). In order to extend and explain the quantitative data, 60% of the educators who completed all three surveys were also interviewed. This study sought to determine if any of the trained educators also participated in after-school robotics competitions, and if so what impact that had on their attitudes of using ER. Results comparing the pre to post workshop means determined that there were statistically significant differences with large effect sizes in educators\u27 attitudes across all three subscales. The interviews supported the conclusion that the workshop and classroom kits are important for successful implementation of ER in classrooms. Post use surveys did not result in statistically significant differences in educators\u27 attitudes, demonstrating persistence of attitudes consistent with the interview results that revealed educators value the hands-on nature of ER which they believe increases student engagement in STEM and cross-curricular learning. A case-study of one educator suggests that participation in FIRSTRTM LEGORTM League Jr. increased the skills, confidence, and engagement of both the teacher and students which led to the integration of engineering practices, and school-wide interest in ER. This study demonstrates the importance of high-quality professional development in increasing educators\u27 self-efficacy with using ER with elementary students, and suggests that new tablet-based, wireless robotics platforms, such as the LEGORTM WeDo 2.0 enable younger learners to engaged with this technology. Additional research is necessary to better understand the impact of ER on students, and to identify and study schools where ER helped lead a transformation of the teaching toward constructionism. It is vital for the success of our children and our nation that we engage and inspire students in STEM subjects and career pathways at an early age if we are to meet the needs of the 21st century job market, reduce disparities in STEM fields, and maintain our place in the global economy

Building, coding and programming 3D models via a visual programming environment

[EN] This paper presents the findings of a study conducted in the state-funded Infant, Primary and Secondary School Santísima Trinidad in Salamanca. The main objectives of the research were, to evaluate the use of the visual programming environment, Lego Education WeDo, in natural science and to know the benefits of the use of this tool to teach abstract concepts, solve problems and motivate students. In order to achieve these objectives, we used the case study method since we focused on individuals who represented the phenomenon of our interest, and explored and investigated in depth the phenomenon in its natural context bounded by time and space. In the research were involved a teacher and fifty-two students of 4th grade of primary education. The study found that the project developed was effective to help students to achieve the learning objectives of the unit, and also to begin building, coding and programming 3D models. The research showed the teacher’ fundamental role as a guide and students’ active role as builders, programmers, or presenters. There were evidences of the possibilities offered to acquire the skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, reflection, collaboration, communication, and time management. Due to the positive results obtained in this study, it is recommended to incorporate computational thinking in primary education and in core content areas since it is fundamental in the current society

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.

Developing Computational Thinking with Educational Technologies for Young Learners

This article aims to provide an overview of the opportunities for developing computational thinking in young learners. It includes a review of empirical studies on the educational technologies used to develop computational thinking in young learners, and analyses and descriptions of a selection of commercially available technologies for developing computational thinking in young learners. The challenges and implications of using these technologies are also discussed

Cross Case Study of an Elementary Engineering Task

Designerly play has been identified as a fundamental component of childhood learning (Baynes, 1994; Petroski, 2003). However, as students enter grade one and beyond, the increasing academic focus has resulted in the loss of opportunities for designerly play (Zhao, 2012). At the same time, there are increasing calls to increase the number, skill, and diversity of STEM workers (Brophy, Portsmore, Klein, & Rogers, 2008). The robotics based Elementary Engineering Curriculum (Heffernan, 2013) - used by students in this study - and other similar projects have the potential to increase the STEM pipeline but elementary engineering is not well-understood. Research is needed to understand how to teach engineering to students as their cognitive, motor, and social skills rapidly develop in elementary school (Alimisis, 2012; Crismond & Adams, 2012; Mead, Thomas, & Weinberg, 2012; Penner, Giles, Lehrer, & Schauble, 1997; Roth, 1996; Schunn, 2009; Wagner, 1999). The literature review and theoretical frameworks chapters of this study determined the most relevant theoretical frameworks, engineering design process models, and existing research that is relevant to a cross-sectional case study of six grade 2 and six grade 6 elementary robotics students in the context of established K-6 elementary robotics curriculum (Heffernan, 2013). Students were videotaped doing an open-ended engineering task based on LEGO robotics using talk-aloud (Ericsson & Simon, 1993) and clinical interview (Ginsburg, 1997) techniques. The engineering design processes were analyzed and compared by age and gender. Significant differences were found in final projects and engineering design process. However, the differences were not, for the most part, related to development or gender, but were related to the complexity of the ride they tried to build and the skills and structural knowledge they brought to the task. The key factors identified consisted of three executive function process skills of cognitive flexibility, causal reasoning, and planning ability, three domain specific process skills of application of mathematics and science, engineering design process skills, and design principles of stability, scale, and the structural knowledge they had of LEGO robotics, most pointedly, LEGO connection knowledge. Implications of these findings for teachers are given

Towards 2030. Enhancing 21st century skills through educational robotics

Recent technological advances require new learning and teaching methods and a reform of traditional school curricula to promote STEM and 21st-century skills. Educational robotics is considered a powerful tool, not only to learn programing, but also to enhance soft and transversal skills, such as problem-solving, metacognition, divergent thinking, creativity, and collaboration. This contribution presents a one-year research project aimed at integrating maker education and educational robotics into the primary and lower secondary school curriculum. The project is developed through a multidisciplinary and longitudinal approach and adopts the Design-Based Implementation Research methodology. It involved 50 fourth and fifth grade Italian students until the following school year. As an integrating background theme, we chose the 17 Goals outlined by the UN in the 2030 Agenda. Each selected goal was addressed by solving challenges in groups. Educational robotics became a tool for learning many concepts, such as renewable energies, human body systems or states of matter, but especially for working on creativity and ability to design, build, collaborate, and revise. We investigated students’ attitude toward STEM and 21st-century skills and their perceived school self-efficacy administrating two questionnaires pre and post the two parts of the project. This paper discusses findings on students’ attitude toward 21st-century skills. In the post analyzes of both Part 1 and 2, this field showed the highest scores compared to STEM fields. The pre-post data show an improvement in organizational, interpersonal, and leadership skills from Part 1, but also a gradual increase in personal and management skills

Robots for inclusive classrooms: a scoping review

Robot-based activities have been proven to be a valuable tool for children with learning and developmental disabilities. However, their feasibility in general educational environments needs further exploration. This scoping review provides a critical examination of robot-based learning experiences involving children with disabilities, implemented either in mainstream schools or in specialized centers in order to gain insight into their potential to support inclusion. For this purpose, a search was conducted in the multidisciplinary Scopus and WoS databases, completed with Dialnet database. Based on PRISMA guidelines for literature reviews, we limited the systematic analysis to 33 papers published after 2009 that contain information on the instructional design and details of how the activities were implemented. On the other hand, studies reporting interventions with robots for clinical purposes were excluded as well as papers focused exclusively on technical developments. Content analysis shows that most experiences lead to improvements in terms of educational goals and/or stakeholders’ satisfaction. However, the analysis also reported issues that may hinder the adoption of these practices in general classrooms and integrated education services. The reported difficulties include the lack of stability and autonomy of the robots used, the need for aids and adaptations to enable children with sensory and physical impairments to interact easily with the robots, and the requirement of technical support with system’s setup, implementation and maintenance. We conclude that robots and robotics are a powerful tool to address the needs of diverse learners who are included in mainstream classrooms. This review aims at presenting evidences of good practices and recommendations for successful implementation.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Ten years of Educational Robotics in a Primary School

AbstractMany researchers and teachers agree that the inclusion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in early education provides strong motivation and greatly improves the speed of learning. Most primary school curricula include a number of concepts that cover science and mathematics, but less effort is placed in teaching problem-solving, computer science, technology and robotics. The use of robotic systems and the introduction of robotics as a curriculum subject educates children in the basics of technology, and gives them additional human and organizational values. This paper presents a new program introduced in an Italian primary school, thanks to a collaboration with National Instruments and Università Politecnica delle Marche. Specifically, the project's curricular aim was to improve logic, creativity, and the ability to focus, all of which are lacking in today's generation of students. The subject of robotics will be part of the primary school's curriculum for all five years. The program has delivered training to the teachers, and a complete program in which children have demonstrated great learning abilities, not only in technology, but also in collaboration and teamwork