Investigating the role of educational robotics in formal mathematics education: the case of geometry for 15-year-old students

Research has shown that Educational Robotics (ER) enhances student performance, interest, engagement and collaboration. However, until now, the adoption of robotics in formal education has remained relatively scarce. Among other causes, this is due to the difficulty of determining the alignment of educational robotic learning activities with the learning outcomes envisioned by the curriculum, as well as their integration with traditional, non-robotics learning activities that are well established in teachers' practices. This work investigates the integration of ER into formal mathematics education, through a quasi-experimental study employing the Thymio robot and Scratch programming to teach geometry to two classes of 15-year-old students, for a total of 26 participants. Three research questions were addressed: (1) Should an ER-based theoretical lecture precede, succeed or replace a traditional theoretical lecture? (2) What is the students' perception of and engagement in the ER-based lecture and exercises? (3) Do the findings differ according to students' prior appreciation of mathematics? The results suggest that ER activities are as valid as traditional ones in helping students grasp the relevant theoretical concepts. Robotics activities seem particularly beneficial during exercise sessions: students freely chose to do exercises that included the robot, rated them as significantly more interesting and useful than their traditional counterparts, and expressed their interest in introducing ER in other mathematics lectures. Finally, results were generally consistent between the students that like and did not like mathematics, suggesting the use of robotics as a means to broaden the number of students engaged in the discipline.

Teachers' perspective on fostering computational thinking through educational robotics

With the introduction of educational robotics (ER) and computational thinking (CT) in classrooms, there is a rising need for operational models that help ensure that CT skills are adequately developed. One such model is the Creative Computational Problem Solving Model (CCPS) which can be employed to improve the design of ER learning activities. Following the first validation with students, the objective of the present study is to validate the model with teachers, specifically considering how they may employ the model in their own practices. The Utility, Usability and Acceptability framework was leveraged for the evaluation through a survey analysis with 334 teachers. Teachers found the CCPS model useful to foster transversal skills but could not recognise the impact of specific intervention methods on CT-related cognitive processes. Similarly, teachers perceived the model to be usable for activity design and intervention, although felt unsure about how to use it to assess student learning and adapt their teaching accordingly. Finally, the teachers accepted the model, as shown by their intent to replicate the activity in their classrooms, but were less willing to modify it or create their own activities, suggesting that they need time to appropriate the model and underlying tenets.

Exploring a Handwriting Programming Language for Educational Robots

Recently, introducing computer science and educational robots in compulsory education has received increasing attention. However, the use of screens in classrooms is often met with resistance, especially in primary school. To address this issue, this study presents the development of a handwriting-based programming language for educational robots. Aiming to align better with existing classroom practices, it allows students to program a robot by drawing symbols with ordinary pens and paper. Regular smartphones are leveraged to process the hand-drawn instructions using computer vision and machine learning algorithms, and send the commands to the robot for execution. To align with the local computer science curriculum, an appropriate playground and scaffolded learning tasks were designed. The system was evaluated in a preliminary test with eight teachers, developers and educational researchers. While the participants pointed out that some technical aspects could be improved, they also acknowledged the potential of the approach to make computer science education in primary school more accessible.