The educational robotics and Arduino platform: constructionist learning strategies to the teaching of physics

Abstract

Today, there is a shortage of professionals with skills and knowledge to prepare the workforce of the future. In the 21st century we live in a technological society where the access to information is at our fingertips. In this environment, it is essential to rethink our attitudes towards educating future professionals that can meet the challenges that lies ahead. The school has a fundamental role in forming individuals, but in most cases the teaching methods are archaic and does not meet the reality of the 21st century students. In particular, the teaching of physical sciences, one of the keystones for the development of engineering and technology need to be urgently updated. In Brazilian schools the subject is introduced as disconnected from technology and more importantly from society. To reverse this trend, we have introduced Robotics to stimulate future teachers to engage in learning physical science through hands-on experience with technology at the State University of Maringá, Brazil. Thus, the question that emerges is if the educational approach using robotics, following a constructivist assumption, does modify the attitudes of pre-service teachers and later influences their teaching practices. The main goal of this work is to evaluate the impact of this methodology in constructing teacher’s professional identity, their familiarity with technology, and the introduction of new practices in classroom. Twenty five pre-service physics teachers used Arduino open source platform and educational robotics to assemble and solve open problems in groups of 4 or 5. After a brief introduction to the technology, they were encouraged to find solutions to the problem on their own. The theoretical assumption behind the courses is Papert’s constructionism. During the courses data was collected using video and audio recording as well as semi-structured interviews. After the courses, students were asked to run workshops to other undergraduate students. Through the observation of students in the workshop as well as the accomplishments of a focal analysis group, we evaluate the results of the introduction of robotics in physics teaching. We can identify that to change the future teaching practices and achieve the construction of a strong teaching identity, it is necessary for the student to learn and experience during their initial training period a methodology that provides the necessary subsidies for the development of skills and knowledge related to their teaching. In this way, Educational Robotics methodologically supported by constructionism, favors the reflection and a possible change of practices of future physics teachers, reaching the construction of the professional identity of the teacher.