Robots for Future Classrooms: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study of “Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale” in the U.S. Context

Abstract

Social robots are increasingly used in educational settings, but research on human–robot interaction in schools has largely focused on robotic functions and effects. Teacher attitudes towards robots are an important factor in determining the effectiveness of robot-related classroom interventions. In this paper we assessed the usefulness of the Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale (NARS) for use in U.S. populations. We reviewed research on the use of NARS and on teacher attitudes toward social robots, showing the potential of this scale for use in the field of education. Using data from 54 undergraduate students in a pre-service teacher education course, we found slightly different subscale loadings on the NARS than previous studies. We identified items on the scale that needed clarification and noted that the paucity of items related to emotional responses may limit the effectiveness of the scale as an international tool for assessing attitudes given cultural differences in emotion. We also found that lack of prior experience with robots was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes towards robots, suggesting that increased exposure to social robots in teacher education might be an effective way to improve educator attitudes toward robots.