We are investigating the interplay between aesthetics and robotics to enhance motivation and skills in digital education.
In this project, we investigate the intersection of aesthetics and robotics in digital education. Historically, the rigid and mechanical nature of robotics has contrasted sharply with the fluid creativity of the arts. In consequence, aesthetics and robotics have only been combined sporadically, especially in education. However, advancements in technology have made robotics more accessible and adaptable for artistic purposes. This is where the project comes into play. We examine what happens when cold, rigid robotics meet aesthetic approaches, and put the focus on bringing this combination into classrooms. Through this, we pursue a shift in educational approaches from STEM to STEAM, where art is integrated to foster creativity and engagement in robotics. The core aim is to understand how aesthetic approaches to robotics can influence educational outcomes, particularly motivational aspects like self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests, thereby achieving broader pedagogical objectives and cultivating transversal skills.
We conducted an experiment at PHBern and compared preservice teachers’ skills and motivation to interact with the educational robot “Thymio”. Preservice teachers were assigned to one of two groups: one group was interacting with an educational robot with an aesthetic costume (experimental group) and one group interacted with robots without any aesthetic costume (control group). We used a costume that moved organically, and created pieces of art that are far from robotics stereotypes. By breaking stereotypes with the help of the costume, we assumed to positively impact preservice teachers’ motivation, relevance, self-efficacy, and skills related to interacting with educational robots.
In total, 76 preservice teachers participated in the experiment. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group under the condition of equal group sizes across experimental groups and gender. 38 individuals were assigned to the experimental group (male: n = 12, female: n = 26) and control group (male: n = 10, female: n = 28), respectively. Preservice teachers were following their primary teacher bachelor’s courses. The study was integrated into their curriculum and took place as part of a 90-minutes-course workshop. The workshop consisted of two parts: (1) a theory-based PowerPoint presentation and (2) a practice-oriented task with a set of challenges. Using the software program VPL3, participants were challenged to move the robot in a predetermined form, making use of the robots’ sensors and wheels. All challenges were identical for both groups. Pre- and post-test-questionnaires and a demographics form were used for data collection.
Survey data revealed that participants shared a high agreement about the importance of aesthetics in robotics. On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), participants highly agreed that the appearance of a robot can affect preservice teachers’ motivation and engagement (n = 76, M = 3.99, SD = 0.93). Regarding gender differences in motivational aspects for interacting with educational robots, findings supported our assumptions and were in line with previous research. Data have shown that male preservice teachers had higher levels of motivation for interacting with educational robots compared to female preservice teachers. They indicated higher levels of technological proficiency and they were more confident in their ability to integrate robot-assisted activities into their future lesson plans. Male preservice teachers completed more challenges than female preservice teachers. Compared to female preservice teachers, male preservice teachers indicated a higher motivation to learn more about robots in an educational setting after the workshop, and they reported a higher probability to incorporate robot-assisted activities in their future lesson plans. Male participants were also more confident in their ability to address potential challenges associated with using robots in teaching and they were more likely to recommend the use of robots in educational settings based on their workshop experiences.
Although participants agreed that the aesthetics of educational robots is important, our data did not reveal differences between those preservice teachers who interacted with the costumed Thymio (experimental group) and those who interacted with the blank robot (control group). Experimental group’s skills in interacting with Thymio were not higher than control group’s interaction skills. Also, there were no group differences in changes in motivational aspects over the course of the workshop.
In the 2025 project phase, we will replicate the experiment with an improved workshop with the goal to achieve significant group differences in skills and motivational aspects.
Our goal is to motivate preservice teachers to use educational robots like Thymio in their future digital education lessons. To achieve this goal, we want to develop university of teacher education course material based on our empirical findings. The course material would adopt the benefits of combining aesthetics and robotics.
We further plan to develop empirically tested digital education lesson material on robotics for primary school teachers.
After an exploratory phase in 2024, the project will be continued in 2025 (The Beauty and the Machine, joining aesthetics and robotics in education – 2 – BeLEARN, das Kompetenzzentrum für Digitalisierung in der Bildung).
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