Educational Robotics
Transformative Or Trendy?
Description:... This study investigated the use of robotics activities to teach introductory computer programming. Two conditions, one using physical programmable robots and one us- ing a virtual programmable agent, were used to teach parallel curricular sequences in secondary technology classes. Addressing open questions and inconsistent findings in existing literature, the study examined the comparative effect of each condition on both cognitive and affective outcomes. Instrumentation included assessment items, affective scale measures, semi-structured interviews and queries of participants' back- ground (e.g., prior experience) and demographic information. In general, no main effects of condition were found on cognitive or affective measures. However, signifi- cant effects of gender and other background variables suggest robotics activities used in a general classroom setting may serve to reinforce rather than disrupt existing patterns of differential success and engagement.
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