The effects of robotics programming on secondary school students’ problem-solving skills

• Published in: World journal on educational technology Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 217 - 230
• Main Author: Caliskan, Erkan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United World Center of Innovation Research and Publication Center 01.01.2020; Birlesik Dunya Yenilik Arastirma ve Yayincilik Merkezi; SciencePark Research, Organization & Counsesling
• Subjects: Computer Science Education; Education; Grade 6; Instructional Effectiveness; Middle School Students; Problem Solving; Programming; Skill Development; Thinking Skills; robotics; Problemsolving skill; programming
• ISSN: 1309-0348; 1309-0348
• DOI: 10.18844/wjet.v12i4.5143

Robotics programming is a type of coding that combines mechanics and programming. Robotics technology facilitates coding instruction. Coding improves students' problem-solving skills. However, studies from the literature show that some teaching methods do not have a positive effect on coding skills. This study aims to examine the effects of robotics programming training on secondary school students’ problem-solving skills. For this purpose, the study was conducted as a pretestposttest quasi-experimental model without a control group. Hence, 30 6th grade students (12 boys and 18 girls) from three secondary schools have participated in this study. Activities were conducted with the VEX IQ Robot Kit for 9 weeks. Before and after the process, problem-solving inventory and the perception scale of problem-solving skills were applied as pre- and post-test. As the scores obtained from the scales did not show a normal distribution, the difference between the pretest and post-test scale scores was examined by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that robotics programming helped students to develop problem-solving skills