The study's purpose was to examine the contribution of a programmable robot to an intervention program for promoting spatial ability (spatial relations, visual-memory, mental rotation) of preschool children. Eighty-four participants were randomly assigned to three intervention groups: programmable-robot-based intervention, traditional…

Background: Being easy to learn and fun, block-based programming tools are widely used to teach students introductory programming. Scratch and LEGO robots are two popular block-based programming tools. However, the objects they manipulate are completely different. Scratch manipulates graphical virtual sprites, whereas LEGO robots manipulate…

Educational Robotics is increasingly used in elementary-school classrooms to develop students' algorithmic thinking and programming skills. However, most research appears descriptive and lacks experimental evidence on the effects of teaching interventions using robotics to develop algorithmic thinking. Using the robots Dash and Dot, this study…

Educational technologists and practitioners have made substantial strides in developing affordable digital and tangible resources to support both formal and informal computer science instruction. However, there is a lack of research on practice-based assignments, such as Internet of Things (IoT) projects, that allow undergraduate students to…

Background and Context: In order to fully include learners with visual impairments in early programming education, it is necessary to gain insight into specificities regarding their experience of and approach to abstract computational concepts. Objective: In this study, we use the model of the layers of abstraction to explore how learners with…

Computational thinking (CT) has been supported as an important skill every young person should possess for the 21st century, with possible implications for problem-solving, self-expression, and creativity. Numerous initiatives, both within and outside classroom settings, have been developed in response to policy mandates aiming at broadening…

Programmed control systems are ubiquitous in the present-day world. In current educational practice, however, these systems are hardly being addressed, and little is known about children's spontaneous understandings about such systems. Therefore, we explored pupils' understandings prior to instruction in three concrete settings: a car park, an…

Background: Teaching programming and computational thinking is becoming a major issue in many education systems. Numerous approaches are possible, but very few studies compare these different ways of implementing programming and computational thinking learning. Objectives: We compared three ways of teaching programming and computational thinking…

Drawing on a situated approach, the authors study the joint effects of lesson plans, digital artefacts (robots and tablets), spatial behaviours of students and teachers, on reconfiguration of space and interactions between students and teachers. Video observations, cluster analyses and structural equation modelling of indicators show that the…

Worldwide, the importance of computational thinking (CT) and its integration into the educational process at all levels of education has been highlighted as a fundamental skill for all. Nowadays, there is strong research interest in the integration of CT into curricula as early as kindergarten. As kindergarten teachers play a key role in this…

STEM education aims to develop 21st-century skills, support economic growth and promote gender equality in STEM fields. It is known that gender stereotypes play a significant role in the formation of STEM identity. The most important factor preventing some high school-level female students from pursuing STEM careers is their lack of participation…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of self-regulated programming learning on undergraduate students' academic performance and motivation compared to traditional methods. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted with an explanatory sequential mixed method. Participants consist of 31 undergraduate students…

This research aimed to study the effects of the WeDo 2.0 robot workshop on grade five students' acquisition of the computational thinking concepts (CTCs) and their acceptance of the robot technology. A quasi-experimental method, One-Group Pre-test Post-test design, was used. Thirty-five grade 5 students participated in a five-day (four hours of…

Transdisciplinary invention projects based on traditional and digital fabrication technologies engage young people in designing and making complex artifacts and constitute a central aspect of future-oriented education. In Finland, comprehensive school students (aged 7-15) from all over the country can practice their inventive skills in the annual…

Social robot in service is radically changing the ways of performing tasks and it becomes a distinct and valuable nascent. To achieve persist autonomy, robotic systems implement a closed-loop consisting of at least planning, reasoning and acting phases. From the continual loop perspective, this paper presents the ROSPlan framework, as a task…