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We designed a controlled trial protocol that seeks to contribute to cognitive science by studying the effect of thought training on children's executive functions. The study design is a cluster randomized controlled trial, with intra-subject and inter-subject evaluation, with two parallel groups: an experimental group and a TAU control group. With three measures, pre-test, post-test, and follow-up after three months. The participants will be children aged 9 to 11. The allocation will be randomized by groups and not individually. The sample will be a minimum of 44 participants. The primary measures will be neuropsychological tests to assess executive functions. Secondary measures will be a computational thinking test, neuropsychological tests to assess metacognition and attention, and an acceptability scale. The experimental group will participate in the COGNI-MACHINE computational thinking training designed by the first author. The training frequency will be twice a week in 60 min sessions for 12 weeks. The TAU control group will receive computer science classes as usual during the same time as the experimental group. The evaluators taking the measurements will be blinded to the assignment. The investigators in charge of the intervention will be blinded to the results of the evaluations.
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In this work, BEAM robotics is proposed to enhance the STEM knowledge and skills of engineering students in the electrical, electronic, and mechanical domains. To evaluate the proposal, a course is designed and implemented based on a curriculum with objectives and learning activities centered on the design, construction, and operation of the BEAM robots. In addition, the connection between this proposal and computational thinking is explored. Students learn to recognize each part of robots and how they are related, abstract useful information from an electronic scheme and concretize it in a machine by systematizing their behavior. In addition, thanks to an evaluation of the behavior of the robot, identify the faults and apply the solution, as in the debugging process carried out in software programming. It should be added that BEAM robotics has a sustainable and low-cost aspect, which is used in learning activities where Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is recycled, and students are taught to value and integrate these parts into the design of the robots. A pre and post survey and a respective statistical analysis and evaluation of curricular activities are presented as evidence of the improvement observed in students' STEM knowledge and skills. In general, the results show that this new teaching tool can promote the STEM curriculum in engineering students and motivate implementation, as a new educational robot, at other academic levels such as secondary and pre-secondary education.
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With advances in science and technology, several innovative researches have been developed trying to figure out the main problems related to children's learning. It is known that issues such as frustration and inattention, between others, affect student learning. In this fashion, robotics is an important resource that can be used towards helping to solve these issues, empowering our students in order to push their learning up. In this case, robotic tools are generally used considering two different paradigms: as the main focus and as a secondary focus. Actually, these paradigms define the way that Educational Robotics is implemented in schools. Most of the approaches have implemented it as the main focus, which is teaching Robotics. Nevertheless, there are quite a few works that implement robotics as a secondary focus, which is currently assisting the learning process in several disciplines. The main contribution of this work is a complete three steps methodology for Robotics in Education to guide projects in order to either use it alone or to teach robotics with others topics. Our experiments show the importance of devising a study plan and evaluation method because the process is iterative and could improve the final results. As a novelty, here we have joined and extended our previous works by proposing a new set of methods with guidelines and strategies for applying the educational robotics standard curriculum for kids, named EDUROSC-Kids. We propose several tools that have been developed to organize the learning topics of Robotics for children, including the desired outcomes during the learning process. As said our current approach is divided in three steps (or phases): setting up the environment, defining the project, and performing evaluation. The proposed curriculum organizes robotics contents into five disciplines: Robotics and Society, Mechanics, Electronics, Programming, and Control Theory. Also, it considers a set of topics for each discipline and defines the level of knowledge that is recommended to achieve each group of children based on Bloom's Nomenclature. The contribution on this paper is a crucial step towards linking the general learning process with Educational Robotics approaches. Our methodology is validated by presenting practical experiences with application of EDUROSC-kids and the proposed method with a rubric guidelines into groups of children.
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The article is the product of the study "Development of innovative resources to improve logical-mathematical skills in primary school, through educational robotics", developed during the 2019 school year in three public schools in the province of Chiriquí, Republic of Panama. The teaching-learning process in students is influenced by aspects inside and outside the classroom, since not all schools have the necessary resources to deliver content or teaching material. The general objective of the project is to design, develop and implement educational robotics to improve logical-mathematical skills aimed at preschool and first grade students in public schools, using programmable educational robots. For this, a set of resources and activities were developed to improve the logical-mathematical skills of the initial stages, in public schools, obtaining significant results. Playful activities favor the teaching-learning process. Considering the analysis of the results made on the data obtained through the applied collection instruments, it can be argued that in general terms the values indicate that the students obtained a favorable level of performance in the different challenges proposed. The project has allowed the academic community to have an application of great value that allows teaching about the conservation of natural sites. The project only covers the area of mathematics in preschool and first grade.
Assuntos
Aprendizagem , Matemática/tendências , Robótica/tendências , Ensino/tendências , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Educação , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Instituições Acadêmicas , EstudantesRESUMO
OBJETIVO: Avaliar a influência da Robótica Educacional (RE) nas funções executivas de adolescentes por meio do uso da ferramenta LEGO Mindstorms®. Trata-se de estudo longitudinal, de intervenção, de natureza predominantemente quantitativa MÉTODO: Participaram 14 adolescentes, de 15 a 16 anos de idade, estudantes de escolas da cidade de Natal, RN, divididos em Grupo Controle (GC) e Grupo de Estudo (GE). Para a avaliação pré e pós-intervenção, as funções executivas foram medidas por instrumentos distintos a fim de mensurar seus diferentes componentes, tais como: controle inibitório, por meio do Teste dos Cinco Dígitos/Five Digits Test (FDT); Memória de Trabalho (MO), com a utilização dos Blocos de Corsi; capacidade de planejamento, avaliada pela tarefa Torre de Londres e; flexibilidade cognitiva, por meio do Wisconsin e FDT. Para a intervenção, o GE participou de oficinas com a ferramenta de RE LEGO Mindstorms®, no total de 36 encontros de 60 minutos cada. Todos os participantes do GE foram submetidos à mesma forma de uso da ferramenta, com um professor capacitado RESULTADOS: Houve diferença estatística significante nas funções executivas de Controle Inibitório (p<0,01; r=0,75), Flexibilidade Cognitiva (p<0,01; r=1,50) e Planejamento (p<0,001; r=3,87 CONCLUSÃO: Tais resultados evidenciam que a RE possui efeito de melhoria nas funções executivas de flexibilidade cognitiva, controle inibitório e planejamento. As medidas de memória operacional não apresentaram significância estatística. Pesquisas longitudinais futuras podem incluir análise de generalização e medidas de follow-up para a intervenção
OBJECTIVE: This study was to evaluate evaluative of Robotic Educational tools and plays of 15 years and 16 years, using the use of the LEGO Mindstorms® software METHODS: This is a longitudinal, interventional study of predominantly quantitative nature. The study included 14 adolescents, in the above age group, students from schools in the city of Natal, RN, Brazil, divided into Control Group (CG) and Study Group (GE). For the pre-postoperative evaluation, as FE was formed by distinct and distinct instruments, such as: Inhibitory control, through the Five Digits Test / Five Digits Test - FDT; working memory, with the use of Corsi Blocks; planning capacity, evaluated by the task of Tower of London and; cognitive flexibility, through Wisconsin and FDT. Intellectual performance was assessed using the Wechsler Abridged Intelligence Scale - WASI. For an intervention, the GE participated in workshops with a tool of RE LEGO Mindstorms®, in total 36 meetings of 60 minutes each. All GE participants were submitted to the same form of use of the tool, with a trained teacher RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the executive functions of Inhibitory Control (p<0.01; r=0.75), Cognitive Flexibility (p<0.01; r=1.50) and Planning (p<0.001; r=3.87) Conclusion: These results evidenced that the impact of the influence on cognitive economy, inhibitory control and planning. The measures of memory were not statistically significant. Researchers were included in generalization analysis and follow-up measures for an intervention