Robots in K-12 Education

Abstract

In this chapter we describe an inquiry based science education (IBSE) theoretical framework applied to robotics activities carried out in European K-12 classrooms during last six years. Interactions between IBSE, problem-based learning, constructivist/constructionist learning theories and technology are discussed. Example activities will show that educational robotics may capitalize on the digital curiosity of young people leading to concrete experiences in STEM content areas and spreading computational thinking in all school types and levels. Cooperation among different stakeholders (students, teachers, scientific and disseminating institutions, families) is emphasized in order to exploit in and out of the school resources, competences and achievements and for implementing a peer-to-peer education among students and teachers inside the same class/school or from different schools. INTRODUCTION During the last decade an increasing number of robotics activities for students from kindergarten to high school have been developed with different and often mixed motivations. For example, the initial goal of the well known project Roberta was the one of increasing the interest in science and technology among girls, traditionally less present than boys in these kinds of studies. An overview of the Roberta experience is given by Bredenfeld and Leimbach (2010). Other projects aim at involving students in scientific and technological activities since an early age often with experiences out of the school curricula like the Kids‟ club organized by Sutinen‟s group at the University of Joensuu, Finland (Sutinen, 2011). The authors of this chapter have carried out different activities though sharing the common goal of using programmable robots for manipulating concepts of the standard school curricula under the influence of the “body-geometry” suggestions in Papert‟s Mindstorm (1980, p.58). Thus every activity is a mean to capitalize the digital curiosity of young people in order they have concrete experiences focusing on discovering the need or experimenting concepts of their normal school curricula. All grades from kindergarten to high school have been covered: the first author mostly worked with k-8 students using a mini-language for programming mini robots and an integrated program development environment specifically developed for young people (Demo and Marciano, 2007; Demo, 2009). The other three authors have been involved in the European TERECoP project, aimed at developing a framework and a community of interest for helping teachers to implement a robotics-enhanced constructionist learning environment in secondary schools (Alimisis, 2009). Most of the activities address concepts of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects but the interactions of the robots