“Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity in kindergarten with Educational Robotics”: A scoping review (2012–2023)

Abstract

Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity are regarded as key skills for today's learners. Interest in robotics usage to develop such competencies in educational settings arises but there hasn't been so far mapping of the research conducted in this field. Thus, we present a scoping review of 59 articles published from 2012 to 2023 in 4 Databases and 2 Registers examining kindergarteners' skills through Educational Robotics. Our goal was to map which skills are commonly examined in kindergarten and under which terminology as well as to investigate the studies' features, the types of robotics, and the assessment tools utilized. Our findings depict that several skills are evaluated using different terms. Critical thinking is examined most frequently, creativity the least, and communication is integrated into collaboration and the opposite. Most of the researchers used the mixed method focusing on qualitative tools, examining quite a small sample size, and conducting the intervention for a short time. Also: BeeBot, Lego robotics kits (WeDo, Mindstorms), and social, humanoid robots are often used. Additionally, the evaluation tools used in the reviewed papers are presented and categorized into groups. This scoping demonstrates that robotics might affect positively the children's cognitive skills and creativity but may not facilitate their interactions so much regarding emotional expressions. Moreover, a gap in quantitative research on kindergarteners' skills development via Educational Robotics is spotted. Finally, this scoping review suggests: creating clear terms for skills, developing robotics tailored to kindergarten age, forming full robotics activities, and designing modular evaluation tools for young learners' capacities.