The use of UTAUT and Post Acceptance models to investigate the attitude towards a telepresence robot in an educational setting

(1) Background: In the last decade, various investigations into the field of robotics have created several opportunities for further innovation to be possible in student education. However, despite scientific evidence, there is still strong scepticism surrounding the use of robots in some social fields, such as personal care and education; (2) Methods: In this research, we present a new tool named: HANCON model that was developed merging and extending the constructs of two solid and proven models: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to examine the factors that may influence the decision to use a telepresence robot as an instrument in educational practice, and the Post Acceptance Model to evaluate acceptability after the actual use of a telepresence robot. The new tool is implemented and used to study the acceptance of a Double telepresence robot by 112 pre-service teachers in an educational setting; (3) Results: The analysis of the experimental results predicts and demonstrate a positive attitude towards the use of telepresence robot in a school setting and confirm the applicability of the model in an educational context; (4) Conclusions: The constructs of the HANCON model could predict and explain the acceptance of social telepresence robots in social contexts

Managing Teacher Acceptance of New Technology: The Case of Robotics Kit

This quantitative research aims to identify a model for the acceptance of an educational robotics kit among primary school teachers, providing educators, administrators, and policy makers practical insight for planning design. This study collected the opinions from a population of 871 in-service teachers of mathematics, science, and technology, at public and private primary schools in Phatthalung province. Purposive sampling and quota sampling were applied, generating a total of 488 responses, collected via questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling method, generating a structural model to predict the behavioral intent for the adoption of the educational robotics kit. The model comprised of 4 independent variables – perceived ease of use; technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge; perceived usefulness; and facilitating conditions. The model explained 88.2 percent of the variance in behavioral intentions. The findings revealed that perceived usefulness had the strongest direct effect on behavioral intentions. Perceived ease of use had the strongest indirect and total effect on behavioral intentions; moreover, it produced a direct effect on perceived usefulness. In addition, perceived ease of use could be predicted by technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. The implications discussed include the suggested managerial actions to stimulate the intention to adopt educational robotics kits in accordance with the findings

COVID-19 as a Magnifying Glass: Exploring the Importance of Relationships as Education Students Learn and Teach Robotics via Zoom

Ed+gineering, an NSF-funded program, adapted hands-on robotics instruction for online delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multiple case study shares the experiences of participating education students in spring 2021 as they collaborated virtually with engineering students and fifth graders to engineer bioinspired robots in an afterschool technology club adapted to be virtual. The online context reduced the education students’ interactions with people other than the engineering students and fifth graders on their team and thus positioned COVID-19 as a metaphorical magnifying glass amplifying the critical role that these relationships played in influencing the project’s outcomes. Through analyzing short-answer reflections, the researchers observed patterns in the ways the education students’ interactions with their engineering and fifth-grade partners shaped their teaching self-efficacy and intention to integrate engineering and coding. Education students appeared to gain the most self-efficacy from feeling supported by, but not dependent upon, their engineering partners, and from adopting engineering-teaching roles. Satisfying interactions with fifth graders and successful production of functioning robots appeared to enhance education students’ intention to integrate engineering and coding into their future instruction. Education students reported gaining self-efficacy for both engineering and coding during the experience, but were more likely to report feeling confident about teaching engineering than teaching coding at the project’s end. Implications and lessons learned are shared, which may be particularly relevant for educators who prepare elementary education students to teach engineering in K-6 settings

Personality factors and acceptability of socially assistive robotics in teachers with and without specialized training for children with disability

Personality factors can be predictors of acceptability and intention to use new technologies, especially regarding education and care fields in the whole lifespan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive factors and attitudes of curricular and specialized teachers towards socially assistive robotics and the intention to use robots in teaching activities. In our research, we investigated the impact of the personality factors measured with the Big Five Questionnaire, on acceptability questionnaires derived by Eurobarometer and by the model Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), administered respectively before and after showing the possible uses of the robot NAO in education and teaching. The study was conducted in four schools, participants were 114 teachers (52.07 ± 8.22), aged 26 to 68 years, of the primary and middle school level. The results highlight the primary role of the personality factors Openness to Experience and Extraversion for promoting the acceptability and reduce the prejudicial reject regarding the use of educational and assistive robotic technologies. In conclusion, for using at best robotics in education, teachers need to receive appropriate training - also on the basis of their attitudes and personality traits - to learn how to plan their educational activities integrating the robotics tool

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

A review of researches on STEM in preservice teacher education

As the research on STEM education has begun to gain momentum in literature, the need for STEM education in the field of teacher training has been emphasized. Considering that STEM education plays an increasingly important role in teacher education both in our country and in the world, it is necessary to investigate the literature review that will guide these studies. According to the criteria determined in this study, 76 studies published between January 2001 and December 2018 were examined by using systematic review. These 76 studies are summarized under the categories of research, type of research, method research group, validity-reliability report, data collection tools, educational material, country of publication. The results of the research indicate that applied qualitative research methods are used mostly in preservice teacher education, the studies have increased significantly in the last three years, simple tools as education material are used mainly, and interview forms were preferred as the data collection tool. In the light of these findings, some suggestions are put forward to the teacher educators and researchers.As the research on STEM education has begun to gain momentum in literature, the need for STEM education in the field of teacher training has been emphasized. Considering that STEM education plays an increasingly important role in teacher education both in our country and in the world, it is necessary to investigate the literature review that will guide these studies. According to the criteria determined in this study, 76 studies published between January 2001 and December 2018 were examined by using systematic review. These 76 studies are summarized under the categories of research, type of research, method research group, validity-reliability report, data collection tools, educational material, country of publication. The results of the research indicate that applied qualitative research methods are used mostly in preservice teacher education, the studies have increased significantly in the last three years, simple tools as education material are used mainly, and interview forms were preferred as the data collection tool. In the light of these findings, some suggestions are put forward to the teacher educators and researchers

Changes in Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions About Integrated STEM Education After a Professional Development Experience

This study explored how a professional development experience changed preschool teachers' perceptions of integrated STEM education. In addition, the research examined what teachers learned about STEM education with this experience. The study employed a qualitative research design, precisely a case study approach. Thirty preschool teachers participated in the study. The professional development program spanned seven days, with a total duration of 48 hours. Data for the research study were gathered through a questionnaire that included drawing and open-ended items, as well as through participant journals. Thematic analysis was employed as the data analysis method. The qualitative data were coded and categorized during the analysis process. Prior to the professional development, it was found that preschool teachers had different perceptions regarding integrated STEM education. These perceptions were superficial and exhibited inaccurate and incomplete understandings of STEM education. It was revealed that the professional development experience eliminated teachers’ misunderstanding about STEM education and enabled them to gain a more complex understanding of STEM education. In addition, the study revealed that the professional development experience significantly enhanced teachers' understanding of the theoretical background of STEM education, facilitating their application of STEM and resulting in positive change in teachers’ feelings towards STEM education

Can We Make Our Robot Play Soccer? Influence of Collaborating with Preservice Teachers and Fifth Graders on Undergraduate Engineering Students\u27 Learning During a Robotic Design Process (Work in Progress)

This work-in-progress paper describes engineering students’ experiences in an NSF-funded project that partnered undergraduate engineering students with pre-service teachers to plan and deliver robotics lessons to fifth graders at a local school. This project aims to address an apparent gap between what is taught in academia and industry’s expectations of engineers to integrate perspectives from outside their field to solve modern societal problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Working in small teams over Zoom, participating engineering, education, and fifth grade students designed, built, and coded bio-inspired COVID companion robots. The goal for the engineering students was to build new interprofessional skills, while reinforcing technical skills. The collaborative activities included: (1) training with Hummingbird BitTM hardware (e.g. sensors, servo motors) and coding platform, (2) preparing robotics lessons for fifth graders that explained the engineering design process (EDP), and (3) guiding the fifth graders in the design of their robots. Additionally, each undergraduate engineering student designed a robot following the theme developed with their preservice teacher and fifth grade partners. The intervention took place in Spring 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the investigators to make critical decisions to address challenges of implementing the intervention in an online setting. This paper describes those decisions as it investigates how the cross-disciplinary, mixed-aged collaboration with preservice teachers and fifth graders impacted undergraduate engineering students’ learning and investment during the design process of their robots. Preliminary results of a regression analysis revealed a relationship between the engineering students’ robot rankings and post-scores on the design process knowledge survey (r = 0.92). Consistencies and a few anomalies in this pattern were explained using qualitative reflections which were analyzed to determine students’ level of investment in the project, overall perceptions, and the extent to which they focused on the fifth graders’ ideas in their designs. In general, robot quality was linked to both undergraduate engineering students’ level of investment and whether they focused on the fifth graders’ ideas in their designs. Engineering students’ overall perceptions of the project were generally positive, appreciating the role of cross-disciplinary and mixed-aged collaborations in their learning to brainstorm innovative solutions and interact effectively with professionals outside of engineering as they embark on tackling societal problems in the real world

Rural Science Teachers\u27 Intentions of Integrating STEM Career-Related Lessons

Researchers have shown rural elementary and middle-grade science teachers\u27 inability to integrate STEM career-related lessons into their curricula despite engagement in professional development linked to the teachers\u27 intent-driven beliefs. Researchers, however, have not investigated the influence of intentions on teachers\u27 abilities to integrate STEM career-related lessons into science instruction. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand how intentions impacted rural elementary and middle-grade teachers\u27 ability to integrate STEM career-related lessons during science instruction. Guided by Ajzen\u27s (1988) theory of planned behavior, this study was designed to examine teachers\u27 intentions to integrate STEM career-related lessons during science instruction and the underlying causes of such intentions. In this transcendental phenomenological study, reflective journal entries and interview data were collected through purposeful sampling of 10 rural elementary and middle-grade science teachers. Data were analyzed using a modification of the Van Kaam method of analysis. Findings showed that teachers intended to regularly integrate STEM career-related lessons, but needed more support from their administrators, colleagues, and community partners in fulfilling their intents to integrate STEM career-related lessons. Additional studies are needed for an increased understanding of how teachers in rural areas intend to integrate STEM career-related lessons amid challenges rural teachers face. This study may be of benefit to administrators and teachers who want to unite efforts in constructing a positive climate of integrating STEM career-related lessons during science instruction