Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show great interest in technological devices, and especially in robots. Several studies in the field have suggested that socially assistive robotics (SARs) can help children with ASD in the enhancement of their social skills and communication, and in the reduction of their stereotypical behaviors. Few…

Contributions: The study contributes to the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) by explaining high-school students' career choices and finding possible relations between self-efficacy, interpersonal skills, what inspires them to choose a career, and their actual choices. The practical contribution of this research lies in understanding the…

To enhance how educators use robotics to support the development of STEM and 21st century competencies, we report findings from focus groups and interviews with 133 elementary teachers and 46 elementary students, 19 video-recorded classroom observations, and a teacher survey from Ontario, Canada. We find that teachers use robotics in a variety of…

Educational robotics are increasingly appearing in educational settings, being considered a useful supporting tool for the development of cognitive skills, including Computational Thinking (CT), for students of all ages. Meanwhile, there is an overwhelming argument that CT will be a fundamental skill needed for all individuals by the middle of the…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss issues related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. It is emphasized that the need to prepare students with twenty-first-century skills through STEM-related teaching is strong, especially at the elementary level. The authors present selected previous experiences, publications,…