Collaborative Research. ITEST-Strategies: Human-Centered Robotics Experiences for Exploring Engineering, Computer Science, and Society

• In Event: Finding the Hook: Engaging Teachers and Students in Computer Science

Abstract

Objectives
Early experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) are important for promoting youth interest (Tai et al., 2006). The social aspects of science are particularly important for bringing girls into the STEM pipeline (Hill et al., 2010). We accomplish this through engaging youth in Human–centered Robotics (HCR), which emphasizes the social aspects of technology and the iterative process of design. In our project’s first year, we performed design and testing of a STEM curriculum for students in grades 6-12 grounded in a problem-based learning approach to the topic of HCR design.

Perspectives
Human-centered robotics (HCR) involves the development of robots and applications for everyday use (Schaal, 2007), while telepresence applications enable communication, operation and exploration across large distances in ways relevant for today’s world. Our ITEST project aims to pique student interest and provide them with the tools and know-how to develop robots in response to people’s needs. In recent years, robotics has become a popular vehicle for introducing students to STEM fields (Barker & Ansorge, 2007; DiSalvo et al, 2008; Mataric et al, 2007), and was shown to be effective in engaging diverse groups of students with technology, including women (Hamner, 2008).

Methods
The curriculum was presented in an informal learning setting (afterschool robotics club) in the Midwest during Spring 2015. The participants ranged in age from 13 to 18 and included 20 males and 26 females. Over of 9 weeks, they designed and built telepresence robots—remote-controlled robots equipped to navigate a space using wheels, sensor data, and a camera. A simple engineering design process was incorporated into the curriculum to engage students with designing (shown in Figure 1 (adapted from Resnick, 2007; Hmelo-Silver, 2004). The iCreate platform, to which participants could attach various sensors using personalizable 3D printed parts, was the basis for robot construction.

Data Sources
Data included student pre-interviews about initial perceptions of and prior knowledge about robots, video and audio records of all sessions, drawn and handwritten artifacts, and student post-interviews.

Results
Exploratory analyses identified aspects of the curriculum that were most and least engaging for students. BGC members created diverse robot designs that generally focused on form based on their personal interests, but they could also relate form to function. Focusing on 4 female participants, we found they entered and engaged with the units in diverse ways. One student engaged with iterative design vicariously by observing her peers, while another engaged in the delegation of tasks, and a third used the technical constraints of 3D printing to refine her design.

Significance
Exploring the roles four female students took up and how they demonstrated understanding of the iterative engineering design process and HCR, we gained insights to on how iterations of HCR curriculum can be designed to cater to a diverse population. Engaging in robotics allowed female students to address technology in personally meaningful ways as they performed iterative design. This ITEST project gives preliminary evidence that HCR is an engaging context for those who are under-represented in the STEM pipeline.

Authors

• Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver, Indiana University

• Andrea Sarah Gomoll, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Matt Francisco, Indiana University

• Selma Sabanovic, Indiana University

• Whitney E Novak, Indiana University - Bloomington