Pre-service and in-service teachers’ interest, knowledge, and self-confidence in using educational robotics in learning activities

Abstract

This paper presents a study that aims to analyze the interest, knowledge, problem-solving skills, and self-confidence of the pre-service and in-service teachers in using educational robotics for teaching purposes, in particular, to teach programming and computational thinking in primary and secondary education. In the portuguese context, it is mandatory to attend a masters in teaching in order to become a teacher in primary and secondary education. These pre-service teacher training programs are organized in several dimensions, such as specific didactics, general education, scientific area. Computational Thinking, programming, and robotics have been integrated into the schools’ curriculum in many countries. Accordingly, it is essential to analyze the teachers’ preparation to teach these thematic trends. A descriptive and exploratory quantitative approach was implemented with 49 participants. The results pointed out a positive level of interest, educational robotics knowledge, problem-solving, self-confidence of both pre-service and in-service teachers.

Mapping K-12 Computer Science Teacher’s Interest, Self-Confidence, and Knowledge about the Use of Educational Robotics to Teach

“…However, it was possible to identify that the levels of self-confidence and knowledge can still be improved. The results are related to previous studies on teachers' interest, self-confidence, and knowledge to use robotics [5,9,31,47] and to promote computational thinking [34].…”

“…As referred to in the previous section, educational robotics has great potential to improve teaching [27], however, "the gain in learning by students is not guaranteed just by the simple application of robotics, as there are several factors that can determine the outcome" [3] (p. 986) and one of the most important factors is teacher competence and self-efficacy on technologies and robotics [41]. Several studies have highlighted the importance of educational robotic activities to promote teachers' interest, knowledge, and self-confidence in STEM and in the use of robotics for teaching purposes [5,31,42].…”

“…The involvement in these types of initiatives may provide the necessary educational experiences for teachers to develop their levels of self-confidence and knowledge that are so important in promoting innovation in pedagogical practices. When teachers are involved in the planning and implementing of learning activities with robotics and thinking about the solutions, they rethink all the possible pedagogic approaches that they learned in theory and transfer their knowledge to new situations and problems [5].…”

“…The curricular framework for that subject defines that each student must develop computational thinking skills through a diversity of pedagogical activities, such as unplugged exercises, block-based programming, and educational robotics problem-solving tasks [5]. Educational robotics is a strong strategy to promote students' skills through problem-solving tasks, and it is an efficient approach to teaching and learning in different learning styles.…”

“…The pedagogical and didactic potentialities to teach and learn basic programming concepts and computational thinking, even in early education, have been reported in several studies [6][7][8]. Piedade [5], in a systematic literature review, analyzed 16 papers and underlined the relevance of the use of educational robotics to teach as well as the importance of the teacher's preparation to design and implement robotic learning activities. The importance of using educational robotics in STEAM activities for teaching and learning is evident in several studies, which suggest positive attitudes and interest from students and teachers [9], and positive impact on teacher collaboration, pedagogical approach, and self-efficacy [10].…”