Contribution: This article presents an engineering outreach activity that aims to teach K-12 students how to develop a tendon-based soft robotic finger. The primary objectives of this STEM activity are to introduce students to the fundamentals of soft robotics, its interdisciplinary nature, and to offer them a hands-on and engaging learning…

Fostering students' competence in applying interdisciplinary knowledge to solve problems has been recognized as an important and challenging issue globally. This is why STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education has been emphasized at all levels in schools. Meanwhile, the use of robotics has played an important role in STEM…

Nowadays there is a growing research interest in the developments in the domain of Educational Robotics. The present paper is a systematic review of recently published Greek research pertaining to teaching interventions using robotic devices in order to present: a) a synthesis of the available results and the benefits from the utilization of…

Robotics technologies are a significant tool in many industries. This paper presents a historical analysis of educational robots and how they apply to K-12 education from the past and potential in the future; focusing on the time period before and after the year 2000. The article concludes with future directions for curriculum and robotics in…

Educational robotics (ER) seems to have a positive effect on students and, in many cases, might help them to successfully assimilate knowledge and skills. Thus, this paper focuses on ER and carries out a literature review on educational robotics simulators with Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). The review searches for relevant papers which were…

Cultivating innovative talents has become a critical strategy for building China into a strong country in science and technology. Catering to the trend of educational reform in the intelligent era, the use of robotics in developing student creativity proves to be of greater practical value. The findings of this study are that: first, the overall…

Programming and robotics are resources that can be used as a learning tool for understanding content. However, some teachers are unmotivated due to preconceptions about their difficulties, which hinder their learning and subsequent application in the classroom. This study aims to determine the perception of 195 teachers teaching different grade…

This paper reports a case study, developed in K-12 Portuguese Education, that aimed to analyze the computer science teachers' knowledge, interest, and self-confidence to use educational robotics and other programable objects in classroom activities to teach computer science concepts and to promote students' computational thinking skills. The…

Educational robotics (ER) is a discipline of applied robotics focused on teaching robot design, analysis, application, and operation. Traditionally, ER has favored rigid robots, overlooking the potential of soft robots (SRs). While rigid robots offer insights into dynamics, kinematics, and control, they have limitations in exploring the depths of…

There has been a steady increase in the number of studies investigating educational robotics and its impact on academic and social skills of young learners. Educational robots are used both in and out of school environments to enhance K-12 students' interest, engagement, and academic achievement in various fields of STEM education. Some prior…

Aim/Purpose: Educational robotics competitions are a popular way to increase students' interest in science and engineering during their K-12 years. However, female students are typically underrepresented in these competitions. The goal of this study is to determine differences in the experiences of male and female robotics competition students in…

According to the new federal spending bill signed into law in March 2018, funding is being provided for education programs and initiatives in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Many provisions allow for funding to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education that includes diverse learners in activities such as…

Contribution: This paper presents a model for educational robotics tools and a corresponding set of heuristics for their development and evaluation specifically adapted to the needs and expectations in formal education settings. Background: The increased use of educational robots in classrooms, and the steadily growing number of alternatives from…

This study aims to analyze how pre-service informatics teachers design learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills. A descriptive and exploratory case study design was implemented with 26 pre-service informatics teachers. Data were collected from the participants using qualitative…

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…