Working with Robots: Design and Evaluation of an Introductory Computer Science Teaching Unit With Educational Robots

Conference: The European Conference on Education (ECE2022)
Title: Working with Robots: Design and Evaluation of an Introductory Computer Science Teaching Unit With Educational Robots
Stream: Design, Implementation & Assessment of Innovative Technologies in Education
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Kira Bungert, Frauenhofer FKIE, Germany
Lilli Bruckschen, Frauenhofer FKIE, Germany
Maren Bennewitz, University of Bonn, Germany

Abstract:

As our world continues to digitalize more and more computer science concepts have started to interweave with our daily life. Accordingly teaching these concepts in schools is becoming increasingly relevant. An illustrative and practical way to do this, is by using haptic examples of these very same concepts in form of educational robots. This offers the additional benefit of a motivating and playful access to the field for young students. However, to integrate them productively in computer science lessons, corresponding teaching units are essential.
To help accomplished this, we conducted a survey for students and teachers to evaluate their preferences regarding the use of robots in computer science lessons. The survey had 95 participants, 6 teachers and 86 students, from 6 different classes of 4 different schools.
Using the results of this survey we further designed, conducted and evaluated a teaching sequence for a German 6th grade computer science course. As robot we used the educational kit LEGO MINDSTORMS (Model 51515) alongside Apple iPads. The course consisted of 30 students, 15 of them male and 15 female, with an age between 11 and 13. During the sequence, we observed the students’ motivation and their progress in learning the concepts of computer programming. We also examined the results of their exercises during lessons. We found that the robots had a positive impact on the students’ motivation and learning process.
In this paper, we present both the survey and the teaching unit, as well as their respective results.

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