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Can educational robotics introduce young children to robotics and how can we measure it?
Author(s) -
Castro Emanuela,
Cecchi Francesca,
Valente Massimiliano,
Buselli Elisa,
Salvini Pericle,
Dario Paolo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of computer assisted learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.583
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2729
pISSN - 0266-4909
DOI - 10.1111/jcal.12304
Subject(s) - robotics , artificial intelligence , educational robotics , wilcoxon signed rank test , test (biology) , intervention (counseling) , mathematics education , computer science , psychology , machine learning , mann–whitney u test , mathematics , robot , statistics , paleontology , psychiatry , biology
Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) may impact student learning, especially in relation to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas. In the STEM framework, particularly for younger children, the “E” and the “T” are considered to be missing letters, because few studies have concentrated on teaching and evaluating technology and engineering through ER activities. This study aimed to develop and test the efficacy of an ER protocol to teach robotics in a sample of 389 students, hypothesizing that girls would be as successful as boys. A Robotics Questionnaire assessing the basics of robotics was developed for this study. A Wilcoxon nonparametric test was performed in order to evaluate improvements ( p < 0.05). A Mann–Whitney nonparametric test was performed in order to test the presence of gender differences ( p < 0.05). Data indicated significant improvements for all the age ranges considered. No gender differences were found. In order to evaluate the efficacy of a didactic intervention utilizing ER, it is important to assess the impact on children's technological and engineering (robotics, in particular) knowledge.