As artificial intelligence (AI) plays a more prominent role in our everyday lives, it becomes increasingly important to introduce basic AI concepts to K-12 students. Currently, most K-12 AI research focuses on introducing fundamental AI concepts using pure virtual platforms like webpages or software. However, robots, as helpful and popular tools…

Non-formal STEM education programs can expose youth to STEM concepts outside the formal school environment. These programs employ education techniques such as hands-on learning, problem-solving, and connection to authentic science experiences. Youth participating in non-formal STEM programs are more likely to consider themselves science people and…

This research study explored robotics as the catalyst for computational thinking (CT) by sixth-grade students as they are engaged in a science lesson. The interactions, understandings, and applications are discussed, along with the participants' connections and implementations of CT concepts (decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition, and…

The Digital Agenda for Europe (2015) states that there will be 825,000 unfilled vacancies for Information and Communications Technology by 2020. This lack of IT professionals stems from the small number of students graduating in computer science. To retain more students in the field, teachers can use remote robotic experiments to explain difficult…

This thesis explores the questions of how a teacher guides students to see concepts, and the role of gesture and gesture viewpoints in mediating the process of guidance. To examine these questions, two sociocultural theoretical frameworks--Radford's cultural-semiotic theory of knowledge objectification (e.g., 2003), and Goldman's Points of Viewing…

The research described in this dissertation explores the impact of utilizing a LEGO-robotics integrated engineering and mathematics program to support fifth grade students' learning of ratios and proportion in an extracurricular program. The research questions guiding this research study were (1) how do students' test results compare for students…