Background: Based on the embodied cognition perspective, interdisciplinary hands-on learning combines several disciplines, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to improve students' capacity to solve real-world problems. Despite the popularity of interdisciplinary hands-on learning, particularly the six-phase 6E model,…

Background: Although human-robotic interaction is a rapidly burgeoning area of study within education, and social robots are being widely tested for use in schools, few studies have focused on early adolescent interactions with robots under actual classroom conditions. Objectives: We introduced an autonomous, social robot ('Pepper') into a…

Project-based learning (PjBL) facilitates STEM learning, but the integrity of the project activities is a challenge and the design of integrated STEM courses through PjBL remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a transdisciplinary STEM course integrated through PjBL in robotics. Participants in the teaching experiment…

The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate the effect of a robotics-based intervention on empathy for students enrolled in secondary English and literature courses. Empathy, as a concept, is an integral component of reading comprehension and student motivation. A decline in reported individual levels of empathy among young adults…

To broaden participation in robotics education, a free, after-school robotics program has been designed and developed at a public university. As part of a longitudinal study, this paper reports the first iteration of the program, offered to 12 students from Grades 3 through 7 in spring 2022. Three preservice teachers were trained as…

This study was an action research analysis of a competitive, after-school robotics program in the Woodland Hills School District. A longitudinal quantitative analysis was used to measure the effects of the after-school program on academic achievement and student engagement in school. Grade Point Average was measured before the program began and…

RoblockLLy is an educational robotics simulator designed for primary and secondary school students, whose goal is to increase their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In the particular case of computer science, it allows developing computational thinking skills. It has been designed with ease of use in mind. This free…

Creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration are thought to be the core skills that will enable students to be successful in the future. Economic and social development of a nation is associated with the individuals' such new skills, which are commonly referred as the twenty-first-century skills. However, the educational methods…

In 2014 NCTM advocated for productive struggle by expressing the need for teachers to allow their students the time necessary to grapple with their mathematical "uncertainties." We posit pre-service teachers need opportunities to productively struggle when learning and applying their mathematical understanding in order to understand how…

This study explored two different ways for K-12 school teachers to access educational makerspace through virtual fieldtrips. K-12 school teachers from rural areas of the Southeast USA were divided into two groups. The experimental group (n = 48) drove telepresence robots to take their fieldtrip, while the comparison group (n = 23) watched the same…

Contribution: This work examines the impact of a unique precollege STEM education initiative during its two pilot years. The study contributes to the growing body of research by unpacking the needs of and the impact on an important stakeholder group (i.e., the teachers) in the engineering education ecosystem to help inform the future design and…

In recent years, computational thinking has garnered increased attention as an essential problem-solving skill. One of the methods to develop students' computational thinking skills is robotic coding activities. This study sought to investigate the impact of robotic coding activities on the self-efficacy perceptions of secondary school students'…

Since teaching robotics in schools is still new for teachers, studies on how to integrate computational thinking concepts in robotics courses are still rare. In this direction, teacher training sessions for teaching robotics should be visited. Accordingly, in this exploratory case study, a professional development program for teachers was…

Emerging technologies in the classroom are paving the way towards high-quality, hands-on distance learning. Augmented Reality (AR), which overlays virtual information into the physical world, provides a promising solution for the development and delivery of collaborative educational content. Frameworks such as ARkit, ARCore, have enabled AR…

This research focuses on whether the use of a cyber-physical robotic system (CPRS) to assist Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP) in a Special Education service is beneficial. The research method is based on a quasi-experiment with a 2k design and a two-way ANOVA, implemented with real high school students over 10 weeks. It was found that the…