This article proposes an alternative (or additional) place for the use of robotics within the secondary school curriculum. Robotics provides a unique opportunity to engage students in genuinely multidisciplinary learning that challenges their misperceptions about the nature of science/technology and engages them with 'big questions'. After…

botSTEM is an ERASMUS+ project aiming to raise the utilisation of inquiry-based collaborative learning and robots-enhanced education. The project outputs are specifically aimed to provide in- and pre-service teachers in Childhood and Primary Education and children four-eight years old, with research-based materials and practices that use…

Integrating computer science (CS) into school curricula has become a worldwide preoccupation. Therefore, we present a CS and Robotics integration model and its validation through a large-scale pilot study in the administrative region of the Canton Vaud in Switzerland. Approximately 350 primary school teachers followed a mandatory CS continuing…

Nowadays, children and teenagers use technology products in an increasingly passive way. As simple consumers they cannot benefit from the opportunities of designing technology, which has a learning value. Educational Robotics (ER) programs are particularly effective in delivering contents of difficult disciplines: they can re-establish a balance…

This paper presents findings regarding the addition of robotics education in kindergarten and elementary school as a tool for enhancing technological thinking, increasing children's confidence in using technology, developing essential twenty-first century skills and increasing children's self-confidence. A unique tailored compulsory program for…

In Robotics Education (RE), the hands-on experience with troubleshooting problems is seen as a good catalyst to enhance the participants' problem-solving skills. Based on the pedagogical technique of collaborative learning and pair programming, pair learning is an emerging and potential method in RE, which means that students collaborate in pairs…

Humanoid robots are gradually becoming part of everyday life as well as education. Virtual agents have demonstrated their benefits for years, and experts expect similar positive effects from the use of humanoid robots in education. Project H.E.A.R.T. (Humanoid Emotional Assistant Robots in Teaching), from Philipps-University Marburg, has developed…

This paper explores the likely influence of the rapidly evolving market disruptors of cognitive computing (to mimic the human brain) and robotics to the marketing educator. A review of the literature suggests inroads in the K-12 area, though sparse when higher education is addressed. This is followed with insights on whether students grasp the…

There is an increasing interest in design and creative thinking processes in the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and health education disciplines. Many new degree programs are integrating design thinking into their syllabi, with the intention of bringing creative problem-solving methods to these disciplines. In reality,…

In the digital world, where robotics implementations are taking a place in educational processes with increasing acceleration, it is important that pre-service teachers gain competences in this field that addresses the needs of the future. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to design an activity process in which pre-service science…

This paper presents the training curriculum for teachers developed in the context of the ERASMUS+ project, ROBOESL (2015-2017). The paper focuses on the robotics-based learning methodologies inspired by constructivism and project-based learning principles and implemented within the framework of the ROBOESL training and learning activities. The…

This paper describes a 54-hour summer institute for grades 6-12 mathematics and science teachers (N = 19) with a comprehensive approach to preparing teachers to use computational thinking (CT) in their classrooms, including training in Python computer programming with Lego® Mindstorms® robotics, mathematics content sessions, and opportunities to…

Robotics and engineering technology use in education has promoted gifted student's learning by fulfilling their needs of cognitive stimulation. However, the psycho-educative effects on these students and its impact on their education have not been fully described. We performed a yearlong qualitative intervention with ten children, exploring the…

Attracting K-12 students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is viewed as a critical element for benefiting both the economy and society. This paper describes an outreach program, conducted in a Brooklyn, New York, USA, public middle school, aimed at educating students in mechatronics, biology, and…

This paper describes a multidisciplinary teaching program, designed to provide students with the broad knowledge and skills required to practice product development in robotics and mechatronics. The curriculum was designed to prepare students for the senior capstone design project, in which they design and build a working mechatronic/robotic…