Educational Robotics Research Articles

The Impediments to the Process of Implementing Robotics in the School Education System in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has not adopted robotics education as the school curriculum yet. However, several robotics learning centers have introduced robotics education in an informal setting. This research paper aims to highlight the essence of robotics education in Uzbekistan investigating the perception of parents and children to their full potential and identifying impediments to the process of implementing robotics in Uzbekistan. This research study involves primary and secondary research methods. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine the reflection of robotics education among primary and secondary school children. Official statistical data was gathered to prove the scope of demographics. Primary data was collected through the survey among parents whose children attended robotics classes. Ultimately, the authors have used empirical evidence to provide recommendations and solutions on how to implement robotics education effectively in Uzbekistan. Much emphasis has not been put on robotics education in Uzbekistan, despite reforms in the field of STEM education. Moreover, the condition (including teachers, lesson materials, classrooms, computers, and robotics kits) to implement robotics classes as more developed countries are doing has not been created properly, which hampers the introduction of robotics at schools. In addition, the majority of parents are not fully aware of the authentic value of robotics education in children’s lives. Hence, Uzbek schools are lagging in the field of robotics.

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions towards integrating educational robotics in the primary school

This paper seeks to understand the impact of a training program on 19 pre-service primary school teachers’ perceptions towards educational robotics (ER). The training program is based on a reflective process of design and implementation of a learning scenario during the practicum, using a pre-experimental design. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire applied at three moments of the intervention: pre-intervention, post-intervention 1 (19 weeks after), and post-intervention 2 (37 weeks after). The results show that the features of the proposed training program positively influenced the pre-service teachers’ (PST) perceptions towards ER. Experiencing curricular integration of ER and participation in a reflective process of learning scenario design positively influenced their perceptions in post-intervention 1. After experiencing the integration of ER in the practicum class, PST adjusted their positive perceptions in post-intervention 2. PST also displayed a decrease in neutrality in their perceptions in post-intervention 1 and post-intervention 2. Given the limited sample, it’s not possible to generalize these results, however they have implications for initial teacher training programs dedicated to technology integration. PST must be allowed to confront their preconceived perceptions of integrating technology into teaching and learning processes with the reflective process of designing and implementing a lesson plan that integrates technology during the practicum.

A gender differential analysis of educational robots’ effects on primary teachers’ computational thinking: Mediating effect of programming attitudes

A gender differential analysis of educational robots’ effects on primary teachers’ computational thinking: Mediating effect of programming attitudes

Exploring the synergy between instructional design models and learning theories: A systematic literature review

To enhance education, we conducted a comprehensive investigation into integrating instructional design models (IDMs) and learning theories in this systematic literature review. We methodically selected and analyzed 25 publications from a pool of 1,102 documents using the preferred reportinfg items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework to guarantee a rigorous and systematic approach to literature selection. Our results demonstrate the worldwide span of study on this topic, including contributions from prestigious academic institutions and scholarly journals. This examination explores both the benefits and drawbacks of combining IDMs with learning theories. Noteworthy positives include increased student motivation, support for innovative teaching methods, and the development of complex and diverse learning environments. However, several shortcomings were observed. most notably relating to accessibility problems, evaluation difficulties, and questions about the adaptability of such integrated techniques. Our findings have implications for a broad range of stakeholders, including educators, instructional designers, and students functioning in a variety of educational contexts. The increase of learner motivation, the creation of novel pedagogical tools, the refining of teacher training programs, and the promotion of interdisciplinary learning methods are significant areas of focus. In addition, our evaluation uncovered a number of gaps in the current literature, indicating intriguing possibilities for future research. The examination of holistic learning environments, the untapped potential of integrated systems, the incorporation of educational robots into pedagogical tactics, and the refining of schema assessment approaches are notable research fields. By providing these insights, this systematic review not only adds to the current body of knowledge, but also has the potential to shape the future trajectory of educational practices, so acting as a significant resource for boosting learning outcomes in a variety of educational environments.

Usability of Educational Robots in STEM Education

Abstract: Learning robots make it possible to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a new and exciting way. Robotics provides a tangible and practical way for students to apply theoretical concepts from STEM subjects. Students can physically build, program, and interact with robots, leading to a deeper understanding of complex concepts. Purpose: This paper is an evaluation of the usability of educational robots in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in teaching undergraduate students. Methods: A questionnaire based on the principles of usability according to ISO-9241 and the USE questionnaire proposed by Lund (2001), which examines usability. The evaluation criteria are effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and ease of use. Results: According to the findings of 70 students who participated in the study, educational robots used in education today are quickly finding their place. They provide a new opportunity to improve the effectiveness of training and achieve better results. It is important when designing robotics programs to consider the usability of the robots to be used.

Interactive Robots: Therapy Robots

Robots are becoming increasingly common in many areas of human life as technology advances. Considering the usage areas, robots appear in a wide range, from entertainment to psychotherapy. In addition to its role in facilitating human life, its use in the health field has recently been quite remarkable. In this study, interactive robots are evaluated in general and their use in the mental health field is discussed on a large scale. Accordingly, the primary purpose of this study is to examine the need for the development of interactive and therapy robots, their areas of use, and studies on their effectiveness as well as therapy robots that are generally accepted in the relevant literature. The results of the examination show that interactive robots are classified into six groups: social, entertainment, educational, rehabilitation, sex, and therapy robots. In the related literature, Eliza, Woebot, Youper, Wysa, Simsensei Kiosk, Paro, NeCoRo, Kaspar, Bandit, and Pepper have generally been accepted as therapy robots. The results of the studies demonstrate the effectiveness and the usage of interactive therapy robots in therapy for different groups and needs, especially for disadvantaged individuals. On the other hand, it is considered that more research on the effectiveness of robots is needed. Considering the effects on mental health and quality of life, it is believed that the usage of robots in therapy is important and its widespread use will have a significant positive effect in the field.

Applying Design Thinking to Educational Robotics : A Thematic Literature Review

Applying Design Thinking to Educational Robotics : A Thematic Literature Review

The Effect of Educational Robots on Primary Schools' Mathematics Learning Achievement, Interest, and Attitude

The Effect of Educational Robots on Primary Schools' Mathematics Learning Achievement, Interest, and Attitude

Accessible and sustainable technology in education: experiences of educational alternative robotics

Accessible and sustainable technology in education: experiences of educational alternative robotics

Are students ready for robots in higher education? Examining the adoption of robots by integrating UTAUT2 and TTF using a hybrid SEM-ANN approach

Robots have been heavily utilized in many industries, including education. However, the determinants driving robot adoption for educational purposes, particularly in developing countries, are not yet well understood. Additionally, the existing literature does not examine the fitness between robot capabilities and education-related tasks. Therefore, this research integrates the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and task-technology fit (TTF) to examine robot adoption in higher education. Based on 177 responses collected from university students, the proposed model is verified using a hybrid structural equation modeling and artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) approach. The findings indicated that effort expectancy is positively affected by individual technology fit and task technology fit. Further, performance expectancy is significantly driven by task technology fit, but not individual technology fit. The results also supported the role of performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and hedonic motivation in affecting behavioral intention, with a variance of 65% in the latter. With a normalized value of 94.5%, the ANN results revealed that social influence is the most important factor affecting robot adoption. These empirical findings provide several theoretical contributions and will help higher education institutions to promote students’ adoption of robots while enhancing their practical value.

GOALNET: Interleaving Neural Goal Predicate Inference with Classical Planning for Generalization in Robot Instruction Following

Our goal is to enable a robot to learn how to sequence its actions to perform high-level tasks specified as natural language instructions, given successful demonstrations from a human partner. Our novel neuro-symbolic solution GOALNET builds an iterative two-step approach that interleaves (i) inferring next subgoal predicate implied by the language instruction, for a given world state, and (ii) synthesizing a feasible subgoal-reaching plan from that state. The agent executes the plan, and the two steps are repeated. GOALNET combines (i) learning, where dense representations are acquired for language instruction and the world state via a neural network prediction model, enabling generalization to novel settings and (ii) planning, where the cause-effect modeling by a classical planner eschews irrelevant predicates, facilitating multi-stage decision making in large domains. GOALNET obtains 78% improvement in the goal reaching rate in comparison to several state-of-the-art approaches on benchmark data with multi-stage instructions. Further, GOALNET can generalize to novel instructions for scenes with unseen objects. Source code available at https://github. com/reail-iitd/goalnet.

How to learn and teach a foreign language through computational thinking: Suggestions based on a systematic review

There has been an increasing interest in the integration of technology into language education. Meanwhile, computational thinking (CT) skills are fostered which influence communicative language teaching and learning. Despite CT's established importance in science education, its significance in language teaching remains scarce. This study contributes to knowledge synthesis and methodological development by reviewing 16 journal articles, analyzing CT applications in language learning across educational contexts, intervention tools, CT skills, language acquisition, and assessment methods. The results indicate that (a) more CT-involved activities are needed for primary, secondary, and tertiary education, (b) educational robots and Scratch stand out as the most trending intervention tools, (c) CT skills such as decomposition, abstraction, generalization and so on have a positive effect on students’ foreign language acquisition, especially in grammar and writing, (d) assessment of CT development can be surveyed through a validated and reliable instrument such as computer programming self-efficacy scale or an online platform: Dr. Scratch; Conversely, there is a diversity of evaluation tools in foreign language learning. This study is the first to review experimental research on integrating computational thinking into foreign language learning and offers significant implications for future research.

Investigating perceptions of primary and preschool educators regarding incorporation of educational robotics into STEM education

STEM education integrates an interdisciplinary pedagogical model that includes rigorous scientific principles across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into realistic problem-solving exercises oriented toward real-world challenges, incorporating educational robotics. For the successful integration of quality STEM education, it is crucial to comprehend the perceptions of educators. This study aims to investigate the perception of primary and preschool educators regarding the incorporation of educational robotics into STEM education and the factors that influence their convictions.<b> </b>The research involved 307 (n=307) pre-service teachers. Data collection was carried out using a closed-ended questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha=.885. It was observed that the respondents largely hold a highly positive attitude regarding the incorporation of educational robotics into STEM, recognizing its fundamental principles while simultaneously acknowledging the need for professional development in this domain. STEM-related courses attended by educators influence their perspectives to a certain degree, while no correlation was found with gender or specialization.

Direct and indirect instruction in educational robotics: a comparative study of task performance per cognitive level and student perception

Educational Robotics (ER) has emerged as one of the tools to improve STEM learning in primary education if students are properly instructed. However, there is a lack of studies that guide teachers on which type of instruction should be used for ER in STEM between direct (DI) and indirect instruction (II). As a result, the present study aims to compare the two types of instructions in terms of their effect on learning outcomes, students’ perceptions, and students’ gender differences. We adopted a quasi-experiment comparative research design involving 100 ninth-grade students (13–14 years old). We collected data through achievement tests and perception questionnaires and analyzed them using Cochran’s Q-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, and independent samples t-test. Results show that the group in which II was used performed better than those from the group where DI was used. Also, the results show that girls performed better with DI than boys. Furthermore, students perceived ER as useful for developing collaboration and interest in STEM. Therefore, teachers should be supported in learning how to use II and DI strategically in ER to enhance STEM learning.

Педагогические эффекты реализации технологии образовательной робототехники в работе с младшими школьниками

The relevance of the study on teaching robotics in primary school is due to the digitalization trends of modern society and the need to prepare children for a new technological era. The objective of the study is to identify what organizational, administrative and pedagogical conditions are necessary to make teaching robotics effective in primary school. The article hypothesizes that educational robotics taught as an extracurricular educational activity prompts personal development of younger schoolchildren only if the school has an inspiring and creative atmosphere, and the relationships between the participants of the educational process are based on the principles of cooperation pedagogy. Participants: second grade students (n = 80) of “Governor’s Engineering Lyceum No. 102” Ulyanovsk, aged from 7 to 9 (M=8.3 years, SD= 0.458), 52.5% – boys, 47.5% – girls. Methods (tools). A set of diagnostic techniques was used to assess the pedagogical effectiveness of educational robotics: the “Magic Flower” technique (M. R. Ginzburg) was used to identify students’ dominant type of motivation; the “Sequence of Events” technique (A. N. Bernstein) was used to assess intellectual abilities, logical thinking, generalization abilities; parents (n=80) were surveyed with the help of the questionnaires “The Map of Giftedness” (Robert F. DeHaan, Jack Kough) and “Diagnostics of Creative Abilities” (F. Tutl, L. Becker) to assess the creative potential of children, the expression of their abilities and inclinations for various types of activities. In order to identify the organizational, administrative and pedagogical conditions for the effectiveness of educational robotics, interviews were conducted with primary school teachers (n=18); additionally, such methods as participant observation and the analysis of pedagogical experience were used. Results. The pedagogical impact of teaching robotics to younger schoolchildren was revealed. The methodological, psychological, pedagogical, organizational and administrative conditions for the effectiveness of teaching robotics in primary school were determined. The main conclusions. Robotics in primary school can be taught as both an educational and extracurricular activity. To identify and develop the abilities of students in the field of technical design, an educational organization needs an innovative material base, methodological support, and a sufficient level of professional competence of the teaching staff. Cooperation between schools, institutions of additional education and high-tech enterprises is recommended. It is important that the interaction between the participants of the educational process is built on the principles of cooperation pedagogy in order to stimulate the creative activity of students and motivate them to participate in exhibitions and project competitions.

Developing Computational Thinking in Middle School with an Educational Robotics Resource

Computational Thinking has been recognized as an essential skill to be developed in individuals of the 21st Century. Various initiatives worldwide have been proposed to establish the most effective educational strategies and resources to support the development of these skills. With the publication of the Standards for Computing in Basic Education in Brazil (Complement to the National Base Common Curricular), Computer Science is expected to be taught as a fundamental science from Early Childhood Education to High School. In this context, this study presents the results of the students’ learning and the usability evaluation of the ThinkCarpet: an interactive educational robotics artifact built using alternative materials and Arduino, with the purpose of aiding in the development of the concept of algorithms in students from Middle School. Regarding the students’ learning, an average of 93.75% of valid solutions was observed for the algorithms validated through the use of the ThinkCarpet. In contrast, only 62% of valid solutions were identified in activities outside the proposed resource. As for the results of the application of the System Usability Scale (SUS), the results show a score of 83.59, which classifies the ThinkCarpet as excellent in a realistic scenario.

Humanoid robot-empowered language learning based on self-determination theory

With the ability to provide feedback and assistance, humanoid educational robots have been proven effective in assisting students to overcome learning challenges and enhancing individual learning outcomes. However, the strength of humanoid robots in promoting social and emotional skills has not been well investigated. Socially supportive behaviour can contribute more to students’ learning engagement than knowledge transfer. This study focuses on the design of humanoid robots to engage students from functional and affective perspectives. To this end, a pilot test is conducted on 64 primary school students in Hong Kong, comprising a control group (N = 33) and an experimental group (N = 31). Questionnaires, observations, and language proficiency test are done to ensure the validity of the findings. The results show that the experimental group, which learned with the humanoid robots, significantly improved their behavioural engagement (+ 13.24%), emotional engagement (+ 13.14%), cognitive engagement (21.56%), and intrinsic motivation (12.07%). The impact of utilizing humanoid robots in education is elucidated through the lens of the self-determination theory (SDT), which pertains to students’ learning motivation and engagement. These findings can provide valuable insights into the development of more captivating humanoid robots for extensive learning purposes.

Voice-Controlled Robotics in Early Education: Implementing and Validating Child-Directed Interactions Using a Collaborative Robot and Artificial Intelligence

This article introduces a voice-controlled robotic system for early education, enabling children as young as four to interact with robots using natural voice commands. Recognizing the challenges posed by programming languages and robot theory for young learners, this study leverages recent advancements in artificial intelligence, such as large language models, to make robots more intelligent and easier to use. This innovative approach fosters a natural and intuitive interaction between the child and the robot, effectively removing barriers to access and expanding the educational possibilities of robotics in the classroom. In this context, a software pipeline is proposed that translates voice commands into robot actions. Each component is tested using different deep learning models and cloud services to determine their suitability, with the best ones being selected. Finally, the chosen setup is validated through an integration test involving children aged 4 to 6 years. Preliminary results demonstrate the system’s capability to accurately recognize and execute voice commands, highlighting its potential as a valuable educational tool for early education.

Integrated constructive robotics in education (ICRE) model: a paradigmatic framework for transformative learning in educational ecosystem

Integrated constructive robotics in education (ICRE) model: a paradigmatic framework for transformative learning in educational ecosystem

Adaptive learning framework for learning computational thinking using educational robotics

AbstractComputational thinking (CT) has been promoted worldwide by educational systems and is an essential skill for technological citizens. Various strategies have been planned and developed to help in introducing, improving, and delivering CT. One of the strategies is by creating and developing the supporting tools for CT learning. In this article, educational robotics (ER) is chosen as the focus tool to support CT learning. Each CT and ER has a massive field of study. There are various available reports determining the suitability of CT subject integrated with ER for students' learning. However, all students do not develop similar style of learning and thinking. There is difference in their personal traits. There is a lack of research that designed CT learning through ER specifically based on student's preferences. Besides, it resulted in a challenge to determine the suitability of CT and ER for different kind of preferences. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an adaptive learning (AL) framework for students to deliver learning of CT through ER. The framework consists of three submodels: domain model, student model, and adaptation model. One case study is defined, which is learning the introductory level of CT through ER (CTER). At the end of the study, it can be observed that the AL framework produced positive results in performance and perception for various student categories. It was noted that students utilizing the AL framework had superior understanding of CTER. Individually or collaboratively, all students who applied or did not apply the AL framework in studying the CTER introduction had positive learning outcomes.