ERIC Number: EJ975591
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Mar
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1946-6226
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Learning to Program with Personal Robots: Influences on Student Motivation
McGill, Monica M.
ACM Transactions on Computing Education, v12 n1 Article 4 Mar 2012
One of the goals of using robots in introductory programming courses is to increase motivation among learners. There have been several types of robots that have been used extensively in the classroom to teach a variety of computer science concepts. A more recently introduced robot designed to teach programming to novice students is the Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) robot. The author chose to use this robot and study its motivational effects on non-computer science students in a CS0 course. The purpose of this study was to determine whether using the IPRE robots motivates students to learn programming in a CS0 course. After considering various motivational theories and instruments designed to measure motivation, the author used Keller's Instructional Materials Motivation Survey to measure four components of motivation: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Additional items were added to the survey, including a set of open-ended questions. The results of this study indicate that the use of these robots had a positive influence on participants' attitudes towards learning to program in a CS0 course, but little or no effect on relevance, confidence, or satisfaction. Results also indicate that although gender and students interests may affect individual components of motivation, gender, technical self-perception, and interest in software development have no bearing on the overall motivational levels of students. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)
Descriptors: Educational Technology, Computer Software, Gender Differences, Student Interests, Instructional Materials, Programming, Robotics, Introductory Courses, Student Motivation, Computer Science Education, Attention, Relevance (Education), Self Esteem, Satisfaction, Student Attitudes, Instructional Effectiveness, College Students
Association for Computing Machinery. 2 Penn Plaza Suite 701, New York, NY 10121. Tel: 800-342-6626; Tel: 212-626-0500; Fax: 212-944-1318; e-mail: acmhelp@acm.org; Web site: http://www.acm.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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