Classroom interactions and students’ learning outcomes at a robotics summer camp

The previous research on robotics education (RE) focuses more on robotics technology itself rather than the way students learn in RE and emphasizes students’ learning outcomes instead of their engagement process. As a result, students’ dynamic and complicated interactions with teachers, peers, and robots are rarely touched. Despite numerous empirical studies concerning classroom interactions in different educational fields, the classroom interactions in RE remain under-researched. Therefore, this research investigates three questions: 1) What are the features of students’ problem-solving and computational thinking in a robotics learning environment? 2) What are the changes in students’ problem-solving (PS) competencies and computational thinking (CT) skills in a robotics learning environment? 3) What are the relationships between three classroom interactions and students’ learning outcome development? The mixed-method research was conducted at a four-week RE summer camp in the mainland China, among which the methods of pre-/posttest, rubric scoring, classroom observation, and semi-structured interviews were adopted. A total of 32 primary school students (i.e., 10 girls and 22 boys) and one dedicated robotics teacher completed all the lessons and data collection procedures of the summer camp.

This research found several features of students’ PS and CT in a robotics learning environment. As indicated by the research findings, students’ PS competencies and CT skills were significantly enhanced during the summer camp of this research. Additionally, the positive correlations between the time spent in three types of classroom interactions and two learning outcomes were identified. Lastly, several classroom interactions that might be effective in students’ learning outcome development were characterized. Based on the findings above, this research conducted some discussions and proposed a new conceptual framework. Additionally, the contributions and implications for RE teaching and research were suggested. All rights reserved.