Background: In the digital age, fostering young children's computational thinking (CT) and executive functions (EFs) through programming has emerged as a significant research issue. While unplugged programming activities are commonly adopted in preschools, robot programming activities have recently gained attention for the potential to enhance…

Evidence-based robotic intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been limited. As yet, there is insufficient evidence to inform therapists, teachers, and service providers on effectiveness of robotic intervention to enhance social development and participation of children with ASD in a real context. This study…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often face significant challenges in social reciprocity, which involves the mutual exchange of social cues and interactions. This study investigates the potential of using a child-height assistive robot named Rudolf to enhance the social reciprocity skills of children with ASD. The research focused…

Policy emphases on early childhood and elementary computer science education have led to the development of many developmentally appropriate computer science and robotics tools, pedagogies, and high-quality curricula. One example is the integrated Coding as Another Language pedagogy for coding, literacy, and social and emotional learning. The…

In 2018, the U.S. Federal government published a STEM education strategy report outlining a vision with three goals (building a strong foundation for STEM literacy, increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, preparing the STEM workers for the future) for providing Americans access to high-quality STEM education and acquisition of future…

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: Families of parents with intellectual disabilities still face discrimination, stigma and inadequate support, placing them in vulnerable positions. Social assistive robotics offers promising support. This study investigates the possible impact of social assistive robotics on family quality of life (FQoL). Method: An inclusive, iterative…

Educational robotics is presented as a resource increasingly present in the early childhood education stage, allowing the development of STEM competences in a practical and motivating way. Due to the evolution of its use in the classroom, the aim of this paper was to analyse and evaluate research on robotics applied to early childhood education.…

The study investigates the potential of AI-powered plush robots to serve as assistive technologies for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) within educational and rehabilitation settings. It employed a qualitative research approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 13 experts from related fields to gather insights into the…

Background: Children with autism often face challenges in developing social-emotional skills, which are essential for their overall growth and social integration. Social robots have emerged as promising tools to support these skills; however, their effectiveness and educational applications remain uncertain, with existing research lacking…

The integration of digital technology into various sectors has transformed education globally, yet its adoption in Nigeria remains constrained by a lack of adequately trained personnel. This study addresses this gap by developing a Project-Based Arduino Robot Application (PARA) for teaching Robotics Programming to preservice teachers. A Research…

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…

This article addresses the need for empirical research comparing students' experiences of learning in different hybrid spaces in higher education that blend digital spaces, physical spaces and learning interactions. We focus on hybrid spaces formed around Zoom, non-immersive virtual reality (VR), and on-campus with a telepresence robot (TPR)…

This study investigates how integrating STEM content in computer science education enhances the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and its impact on digital competence development in Ukrainian secondary schools. The digital transformation of education demands innovative pedagogical approaches that accommodate diverse…

This study examines developmental differences in the acquisition of computational thinking (CT) among students in Grades 3 to 5 (ages 8-11) engaged in educational robotics (ER) activities implemented through a peer tutoring (PT) framework. The sample comprised 78 students from a public school in Europe, with fifth-grade students serving as tutors…