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Exploring the Effect of a Robotics Laboratory on Computational Thinking Skills in Primary School Children Using the Bebras Tasks

Published: 24 October 2018 Publication History
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  • Abstract

    This paper presents preliminary findings from a project-based learning laboratory of robotics aimed at stimulating computational thinking processes in primary school students. The laboratory was carried out within the context of an ongoing project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The aim of the project is to activate a national network for the enhancement of students' technological and scientific skills in school and extra-school settings. A group of 51 students, engaged in the robotics laboratory, were compared to a comparison group of 32 students in order to evaluate the impact of programming WeDo robotics artefacts on the development of computational thinking skills. Overall, the results showed that programming robotics artefacts may exert positive effects on children's acquisition of computational thinking skills.

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Robotics in the Context of Primary and Preschool Education: A Scoping ReviewIEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies10.1109/TLT.2023.326663117(342-363)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2024
    • (2023)A Systematic Literature Review in Robotics Experiential Learning With Computational and Adversarial ThinkingIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2023.324976111(44806-44827)Online publication date: 2023
    • (2021)Educational Robotics Applied to Computational Thinking Development: A Systematic Mapping Study2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637185(1-8)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
    • Show More Cited By

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    1. Exploring the Effect of a Robotics Laboratory on Computational Thinking Skills in Primary School Children Using the Bebras Tasks

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            cover image ACM Other conferences
            TEEM'18: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality
            October 2018
            1072 pages
            ISBN:9781450365185
            DOI:10.1145/3284179
            Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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            • University of Salamanca: University of Salamanca

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            Association for Computing Machinery

            New York, NY, United States

            Publication History

            Published: 24 October 2018

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            Author Tags

            1. Robotics education
            2. coding
            3. computational thinking
            4. project-based learning

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            • Research-article
            • Research
            • Refereed limited

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            TEEM'18

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            TEEM'18 Paper Acceptance Rate 151 of 243 submissions, 62%;
            Overall Acceptance Rate 496 of 705 submissions, 70%

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            Cited By

            View all
            • (2024)Robotics in the Context of Primary and Preschool Education: A Scoping ReviewIEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies10.1109/TLT.2023.326663117(342-363)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2024
            • (2023)A Systematic Literature Review in Robotics Experiential Learning With Computational and Adversarial ThinkingIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2023.324976111(44806-44827)Online publication date: 2023
            • (2021)Educational Robotics Applied to Computational Thinking Development: A Systematic Mapping Study2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637185(1-8)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
            • (2021)How do Bebras Tasks Explore Algorithmic Thinking Skill in a Computational Thinking Contest?2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637151(1-7)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
            • (2020)Bilge Kunduz: Enformatik ve Bilgi-İşlemsel Düşünmeyi Kavram Temelli Öğrenme için Toplumsal Bir YaklaşımAnkara Universitesi Egitim Bilimleri Fakultesi Dergisi10.30964/auebfd.560771Online publication date: 20-Mar-2020
            • (2019)Educational Robotics in Primary School: Measuring the Development of Computational Thinking Skills with the Bebras TasksInformatics10.3390/informatics60400436:4(43)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2019
            • (2018)Computational thinking and programming education principlesProceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality10.1145/3284179.3284184(14-17)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2018

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