Exploring the Importance of Cross-Disciplinary Relationships as Education Students Learn and Teach Robotics via Zoom

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Fifteen
  In Roundtable Session: Using Technology to Enhance Teacher Learning (Table 3)

Abstract

An NSF-funded project adapted hands-on robotics instruction for online delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multiple case study shares the experiences of participating education students in Spring 2021 as they collaborated virtually with engineering students and fifth graders to engineer bio-inspired COVID-companion robots. Through analysis of short-answer reflections, the researchers observed patterns in the ways the education students’ interactions with their engineering partners shaped their teaching self-efficacy for engineering and coding. Education students gained the most self-efficacy when supported by, but not dependent upon, their engineering partners, and from adopting engineering-teaching roles. Implications and lessons learned are shared, which are particularly relevant for educators who prepare elementary education students to teach engineering in K-6 settings.

Authors

• Kristie S. Gutierrez, Old Dominion University
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer Jill Kidd, Old Dominion University
  Presenting Author

• Krishnanand Kaipa, Old Dominion University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Min Jung Lee, Old Dominion University
  Presenting Author

• Pilar Pazos-Lago, Old Dominion University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stacie Ringleb, Old Dominion University
  Non-Presenting Author