Aim
The workshop is aimed to promote exchange and
sharing of experiences among researchers in the field of educational robotics. Over the last decade, at an international
level, several efforts have been made to integrate robotics in tertiary and
school education, mainly in science and technology subjects.
At tertiary level
robotics is present as a regular subject within two contexts: in mechanical
engineering and in information engineering where a greater emphasis is given to
autonomous robotics. In this latter context, more interesting for general
educational purposes, robotics acts as a stimulating field where to apply a
broad spectrum of knowledge and competences, both theoretical and practical.
Therefore laboratorial activities can be easily settled as part of a normal
course in robotics. Robotics is therefore a good completion for the curriculum
and training of an information engineering undergraduate student.
At school education level, robotics is being introduced from
kindergarten to high secondary school, either as an interdisciplinary learning
activity or focused on school subjects, such as Science, Maths, Informatics and
Technology. Following the constructivist/constructionist paradigm, we see
robotic technologies not as mere tools, but rather as potential vehicles of new
ways of thinking about teaching and learning.
Educational robotics is aimed at configuring learning environments that
can actively involve students in authentic problem solving, enhance learners’
research attitudes, allow learners to carry out their own experiments and
investigations and help them to develop their abstracting skills and to acquire
teamwork skills, independence, imagination and creativity. Such an integration
of robotics in school classes is not just a matter of students’ and teachers’
access to robotic technologies. Technology alone cannot affect students’ minds
and cannot act directly on learning. Appropriate educational philosophy,
curriculum, learning environment, teaching methodologies and well-trained
teachers are important factors for the successful integration of robotics
innovation in school classes. One of the
key aspects not deeply explored, so far, is how to evaluate robotics-enhanced
class activities. In particular, regarding the indirect acquiring of new
knowledge in informal steps or of new problem-solving capabilities or new
social skills traditional tools like Q&A, tests and formal problem solving
appear insufficient for a complete and objective evaluation.