1. Integrating educational robot and low-cost self-made toys to enhance STEM learning performance for primary school students.
- Author
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Hu, Chih-Chien, Yang, Yu-Fen, Cheng, Ya-Wen, and Chen, Nian-Shing
- Subjects
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INTERDISCIPLINARY education , *PLAY , *LECTURE method in teaching , *DIGITAL technology , *MATHEMATICS , *COST effectiveness , *HUMAN services programs , *STRUCTURAL models , *ELEMENTARY schools , *RESEARCH funding , *SCIENCE , *ENGINEERING , *EDUCATIONAL outcomes , *CLINICAL trials , *PROBLEM solving , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *CAMPS , *PRE-tests & post-tests , *SURVEYS , *ROBOTICS , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SCHOOL children , *TECHNOLOGY , *RURAL conditions , *STORYTELLING , *ABILITY , *LEARNING strategies , *STUDENT attitudes , *DATA analysis software , *INTERNET of things , *TRAINING , *CLOUD computing - Abstract
The application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in solving real-world problems is challenging. To tackle this challenge, a project-based learning approach that integrates robots with cost-effective self-made toys to problem-solving was adopted to assist rural primary school students to apply STEM skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the project-based learning approach which includes lecturing and hands-on activities on primary school students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes. An experiment was conducted with 25 primary school students who voluntarily participated in a STEM summer-camp programme. Students were asked to assemble a paper house equipped with an IoT control module and LED light switches, and write and edit robot scripts to produce a robot-based storytelling narrative using the paper house they made as a context. The results show that the project-based learning approach was an effective approach for cultivating primary school students' STEM knowledge and skills as evidenced from the post-written test. The relationships between the students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes were also confirmed by a clustering analysis. Students who had higher learning attitudes also achieved higher STEM learning outcomes; the findings are also supported by the feedback from the open-ended questionnaire items. This study suggests that integrating low-cost self-made toys and robots in project-based learning activities is an effective and practical approach to enhance primary school students' learning outcomes and learning attitudes in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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