Abstract
In response to the call from the founders of the Interest-Driven Creator (IDC) theory, this study aimed to explore the relationship of the interest loop with creativity in the context of robotics education. Specifically, we designed a programmable robotics course for primary school students. We attempted to explore in detail how interest loop, i.e., triggering interest, immersing interest, and extending interest, exerts influences on students’ robotics creation. Eight hundred one online questionnaires were collected from students who participated in our designed programmable robotics activities. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was first used for validation of each study variable, and results suggested a good fit of the study variables in terms of convergent and discriminant validity. Then, structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted for examining the potential relationships between them, and results indicated significant and positive paths from triggering interest to immersing interest, and from immersing interest to extending interest, suggesting the valid theoretical proposition of interest loop of IDC theory. In addition, immersing interest is positively related to robotics creation, which in turn increases the chance of extending interest. Our findings suggested the importance of raising students’ interest in robotics learning such that young students can become life-long interest-driven creators. Implications of the study were discussed at the end of the paper.
Highlights
The orientation of Asian education is considered as examination driven
Previous researchers cautioned that Asian students demonstrate low interest, and lack confidence in their learning as examination-orientated culture seems to have been entrenched within the Asian education system, leading to the inevitable drawback: students find it hard to develop interest in learning (Chan et al, 2018)
Previous researchers pointed out that interest is the outcome brought by the interaction between a person and a particular content, meaning that interest is always content-specific and not a personal attribute that can be applied across activities (e.g., Krapp, 2000)
Summary
The orientation of Asian education is considered as examination driven. A lot of Asian students, including those in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and India, consider learning hard as the only way of scoring high in examinations (Chan et al, 2018; Lee, Johanson, & Tsai, 2008). Previous researchers cautioned that Asian students demonstrate low interest, and lack confidence in their learning as examination-orientated culture seems to have been entrenched within the Asian education system, leading to the inevitable drawback: students find it hard to develop interest in learning (Chan et al, 2018). Those researchers do not object to such high-stakes examinations per se; they pointed out the necessity of recognizing the adverse effects of the examination-driven system on students’ learning and advocated government-initiated reforms to improve the current situation. Educators should inspire the young generation to engage in the learning of new technology, to undertake creative activities exploring technology, and to maintain the learning interest in technology
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