Promoting students’ problem-solving competencies: Peer interactions in a robotics learning environment

In a robotics learning environment, this study aims to explore: 1) The relationship between students' time spent on peer interactions and their problem-solving measures; 2) The patterns of peer interactions which might promote students' PS competencies. A mixed-method research, adopting pre-post test, semi-structured interview, and classroom observation, was conducted with 32 primary school students and one dedicated robotics teacher in a robotics summer camp. Results showed that: 1) students' time spent on peer interaction was positively correlated to students' problem-solving self-efficacy. 2) Among various peer interactions, discussion, the division of work, and observational learning were found to be effective for developing students' problem-solving competencies, while off-task interaction was excluded. Copyright © 2021 ACM.