A Design-Based Research Study of Teaching Non-STEM Majors Distance Sensor in Robotics

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Empowering Learning: Innovation, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking in Higher Education (Table 9)

Abstract

In this design-based research study, we compared two designs of a forty-minute workshop teaching undergraduate elementary education students the robotics distance sensor. The first workshop utilized traditional multimedia lecture and coding practices while the second implemented embodied design principles. Here, students used the physical movement in the lecture to understand how the distance sensor worked. They also conducted a sensitivity test to interact and measure with the coded robots. Results of the mixed-method analyses showed that both designs were effective in improving students’ knowledge of distance sensors. However, the embodied design yielded a higher improvement rate. Furthermore, students in the second workshop reflected more on their learning experiences, signaling a heightened level of cognitive engagement with the material.

Authors

• Shenghua Zha, University of South Alabama

• Sanju Gharti Chhetri G C, University of South Alabama

• Lauren Brannan, Alabama State Department of Education

• Kelly O. Byrd, University of South Alabama

• Na Gong, University of South Alabama

• Drew Gossen, University of South Alabama

• Karen Morrison, University of South Alabama