Examining Preservice Teachers’ Robotics Project Experiences: Identity-in-Action as an Analytic Lens

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogical Design and Educational Technologies (Table 1)

Abstract

We examined how preservice teachers express and experience their identities while participating in robot assembly, robot programming, and lesson design. Data sources include video and screen recordings, interviews, reflections, programmed robots, lesson plans, and pre- and post-surveys. The findings showed that preservice teachers (a) expressed distinctive identities that stemmed from their experiences, particularly for robot assembly and lesson design and (b) experienced collective identity while pair programming. By exploring how ECE majors express and experience their identities during a robotics project, we gain a deeper understanding of how non-STEM majors approach and engage with STEM activities. This understanding can contribute to developing more accessible and inclusive STEM education.

Authors

• Emre Dinç, Pennsylvania State University

• Yinqi Zhang, Pennsylvania State University