Benefits of Robotics with Young Learners MassCUE 2019 18 Oct 2019 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Benefits of Robotics with Young Learners MassCUE 2019 • 18 Oct 2019

Jason Innes Manager of Training and Curriculum Development jason@kinderlabrobotics.com

What do robotics and coding look like in the early childhood classroom?

Sequencing a “Story”

Sequencing a “Story”

Our mission: universal STEM literacy Creators of KIBO, a robot kit that lets 4-7 year-olds build, program, decorate, and run their

• wn robot.

Founded in 2013, with NSF funding, by Professor Marina Bers (Tufts) and Mitch Rosenberg (Kiva Systems)

KinderLab Robotics

Professor Marina Umaschi Bers

• KinderLab Chief Scientist
• Chair of the Eliot-Pearson

Department of Child Study and Human Development, and Professor of Computer Science, at Tufts University

• Creative experiences with

technology support positive child development.

Coding as a Playground (2017)

Additional Papers and research can be found at www.kinderlabrobotics.com/research-articles

Blocks to Robots (2007) Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth Development (2012)

15 Years of Research and Publications

6 Benefits of Robotics and Coding in Early Childhood

21st Century Learning + Innovation Skills

• Critical thinking – children

design, create, test and improve

• Creativity – children can

build and transform robots

• Collaboration – screen-free robotics and

coding encourage group work

• Communication – coding is a new

literacy, a new means of self-expression

(4 C’s of Learning and Innovation, Framework for 21st Century Learning)

Coding is Literacy

• We teach kids to write so that they can

express themselves

• Coding provides a new set of tools for

self expression.

Seven “powerful ideas” of computational thinking described by Bers (2017):

1) Algorithms 2) Modularity 3) Control Structures 4) Representation 5) Hardware/Software 6) The Design Process 7) Debugging

Computational Thinking

Computational Thinking + Child Development

Computational Thinking Skill Child Development Skills and Attributes

Algorithms

Sequencing / logical order (foundational math + literacy skill)

Modularity

Breaking a large job up Writing (and following) instructions

Control Structures

Recognizing patterns Cause and effect

Representation

Symbolic representations (e.g. writing)

Hardware / Software

Recognizing that technology is not “magic” Recognizing objects that are human-made

Design Process

Problem solving, perseverance Editing and revision (as in writing)

Debugging

Identifying problems / checking your work “Grit”

Bers, M.U., (2018). Coding as a playground: Programming and computational thinking in the early childhood classroom. New York, NY: Routledge press

Playground Technologies

• Children engage with

technology as active producers rather than passive consumers

• Children collaborate,

negotiate, and share.

• Children explore, invent, and move
• “Make coding the playground.”
• Bers, M. (2012). Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth

Development: From Playpen to Playground. Cary, NC: Oxford.

Robotics Gets Kids Moving

• Young children learn by:
• Moving, doing, and

making (Piaget, Papert)

• Experimenting,

playing, and collaborating (Vygotsky)

• Robotics demonstrate

tangible effect of coding

• Robots are “objects to think with” (Papert)
• Children using the KIBO robot performed 27%

better on computational thinking assessment than children using screen-based tools.*

*See Appendix for research cited.

Making and Building with Robotics

• 6-8 hour intro curriculum with Animals theme, ending in

showcase

• Covers engineering design process and sequencing
• Supported by a 25-min PD video

Stereotypes about gender and STEM form as early as preschool. With Robotics (using KIBO):

• Reduced STEM Stereotype Impact

After a KIBO curriculum, 2/3 of girls expressed interest in engineering careers – a rate equal to boys.

• Leveling the STEM Playing Field

Girls who completed a 6-week curriculum were equally as capable as boys at KIBO programming.

*See Appendix for research cited.

Counteract STEM Gender Stereotypes

Engineering Design Process

EDP and Growth Mindset

• Students:
• Test and Improve
• Share their work
• Share their questions

and collaborate on solutions “Most work that is finally successful is the result of a series of unsuccessful tests in which difficulties are gradually eliminated.”

• Robert Goddard, 1940

The “Fixable” Mindset?

"Many children are held back in their learning because they have a model

• f learning in which you have either

‘got it’ or ‘got it wrong.’ But when you program a computer you almost never get it right the first time... The question to ask about the program is not whether it is right or wrong, but if it is fixable.”

• Seymour Papert, Mindstorms, 1980

ECT Program at Tufts:

Professional Development in Early Childhood Technology

• The Early Childhood Technology Certificate

Program at Tufts University is based in Dr. Bers’ DevTech Research Group

• A blended online/in-person one-year program
• Angie Kalthoff, Program Manager
• angela.kalthoff@tufts.edu
• Twitter @tuftsect
• Facebook.com/tuftsect
• go.tufts.edu/ECT

Robotics and Early Childhood Technology PD at Tufts

• Fall (Online Seminar)

Technological Tools for Playful Learning

• Spring (Online Seminar)

Designing Educational & Technological Environments for Children

• Summer (On-Campus)

Early Childhood Technology Summit (work with fellow students at DevTech, including a practicum at the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School)

ECT Sample Student Schedule

Leave the ECT Program with…

• Knowledge of theory and practice

working related to early childhood education and technology

• In-depth experience with coding,

engineering, and robotics for young children

• Experience writing technology &

engineering curricula for young children

• Supervised experience teaching with

technology to young children

go.tufts.edu/ECT Contact: gradadmissions@tufts.edu

KIBO:

Tangible coding for Pre-K – 2nd Grade

KIBO Introduction Video: https://youtu.be/baod8Lg3iCQ

Screen-Free Coding with Building Blocks

KIBO Assembly and Scanning

https://youtu.be/MeWAaSTQE5c

Sequencing a “Story”

KIBO Does the “Hokey-Pokey”

https://youtu.be/oXBdq3sC9EQ

What can KIBO become?

KIBO is… a Dancer

KIBO is… an Imaginary Car

KIBO is… a Migrating Gray Whale

KIBO is… a Cave Explorer

KIBO is… a Bowling Ball

KIBO is… a (Very) Hungry Caterpillar

KIBO is… an Artist

KIBO is all of this…

…because KIBO is anything children imagine.

KIBO is a robot kit that lets 4-7 year olds build, decorate and code their imagined creations.

Time to Play with KIBO!

Time to Play with KIBO: Learning Stations

KIBO Bowling The Hokey Pokey Bin-Ball Shape Search

…or just experiment!

Thank You!

• Connect with us

@KinderLabRobot

• Visit our booth in the

LearnLaunch exhibit area

• Download our

whitepaper “6 Key Benefits of Using Robotics in Your Early Childhood Classroom”

Research Citation Appendix

Appendix: Impact Assessment Research Details

Sequencing Skills: KIBO improved children’s sequencing skills from 20-

35% after an 8-week curriculum.

Sequencing ability, or the ability to put objects or events into a logical order, is a fundamental early-childhood cognitive skill associated with success in language arts and math. PreK-Gr2 students’ performance on standard assessments of sequencing ability improved from 20-35% after an 8-week robotics and coding curriculum with KIBO.

• Kazakoff, E., & Bers, M. (2012). Programming in a robotics context in the kindergarten

classroom: The impact on sequencing skills. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 21(4), 371-391.

• Kazakoff, E., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M.U. (2013). The effect of a classroom-based intensive robotics

and programming workshop on sequencing ability in early childhood. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(4), 245-255. doi:10.1007/s10643-012-0554-5.

• Kazakoff, E.R. & Bers, M.U. (2014). Put your robot in, Put your robot out: Sequencing through

programming robots in early childhood. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 50(4).

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Appendix: Impact Assessment Research Details

Benefit of Tangible Coding: Children using KIBO performed 27% better

• verall on tests of computational thinking skills than children using screen-

based tools.

KIBO’s tangible coding using physical robots and wooden blocks addresses the learning styles and cognitive abilities of early childhood. In addition to the inherent value of limiting screen-time, young children learn better with concrete, physical manipulatives than abstract on-screen representations. A comparative study of two equivalent 5-day intensive curricula, one using KIBO and one using ScratchJr, found that the KIBO group performed 27% better than the ScratchJr group on tests of computational thinking skills including sequencing, understanding of loops and conditionals, and problem-solving.

• Pugnali, A., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M.U. (2017) The Impact of User Interface on Young Children’s

Computational Thinking. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 16, 172-193.

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Appendix: Impact Assessment Research Details

Improved Gender-Based Attitudes Toward STEM: After a KIBO

curriculum, 2/3 of girls expressed an interest in engineering careers – a rate equal to boys.

KIBO curricula, when implemented in a developmentally appropriate way, can significantly increase girls’ interest in becoming an engineer. After an 8-week KIBO curriculum, 66% of girls expressed an interest in becoming an engineer, versus 36% prior to the curriculum. Due to this increase in girls’ interest, boys and girls had equal interest in engineering after the curriculum, despite a significant difference prior to the curriculum (58% for boys, 36% for girls in the pre-assessment).

• Sullivan (2016). Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Investigating the Use of Robotics to Change

Young Children's Gender Stereotypes About Technology and Engineering (PhD dissertation).

• Sullivan, A. & Bers, M. U. (2016). Girls, boys, and bots: Gender differences in young children's

performance on robotics and programming tasks. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 15, 145-165.

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Appendix: Impact Assessment Research Details

Reducing Gender-Based Ability Differences: Girls who completed a 6-

week KIBO curriculum were equally capable as boys at building and programming.

After completing a 6-week Kindergarten curriculum with KIBO, boys and girls were equally capable at building and programming tasks, despite the boys initially outperforming the girls in some assessed skills by 25%.

• Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2013). Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics

and programming achievement. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23 (3), 691-702.

• Sullivan, A. & Bers, M.U. (2018). The Impact of Teacher Gender on Girls’

Performance on Programming Tasks in Early Elementary School. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 17, 153-162.

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