Teaching with robotics: creating and implementing integrated units in middle school subjects

Abstract

Robotics activities engage students in critical and computational thinking, problem solving, and collaboration, as well as engineering and computer science. By integrating robotics into disciplinary courses, educators offer these opportunities to a wider range of students. However, teachers may be less likely to use new technology without evidence that it can support their teaching and student learning. This paper presents two descriptive case studies as a ‘proof of concept’ for integrating robotics construction activities into disciplinary courses. They focus on teachers’ motivation for integration, and how they used robotics to support disciplinary goals.

Keywords:

• Technology integration
• case studies
• STEM
• middle school

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jennifer Cross, Illah Nourbakhsh, and all of the teachers and students involved in the Creative Robotics project. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation, through grant #1321227 to Carnegie Mellon University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Debra Bernstein

Debra Bernstein is a senior researcher in the STEM Education Evaluation Center (SEEC) at TERC, a nonprofit research and development organization. Her research interests include curriculum design, implementation, and learning opportunities arising from the integration of technology design activities into K-12 and informal learning settings. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Debra Bernstein, TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140, or [email protected].

Karen Mutch-Jones

Karen Mutch-Jones is a Senior Researcher and Co-Director of the STEM Education Evaluation Center at TERC. Her research focuses on professional development models in STEM for teachers, paraeducators, and special educators and enhancing curricular access for educators and students via innovative technologies.

Michael Cassidy

Michael Cassidy is a Senior Researcher in the STEM Education Evaluation Center at TERC. His work draws on his experience as a former middle school teacher and now researches the implementation of mathematics and science curriculum, teacher professional learning experiences, and integration of computational thinking and robotics.

Emily Hamner

Emily Hamner is the Associate Director of the CREATE Lab at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. Her research focuses on educational robotics and human-robot interaction with an emphasis on helping teachers, girls, and young children to become more technologically empowered. As a member of the CREATE Lab for the past eighteen years, she has developed a variety of robots and technologies for use in formal and informal education.