Abstract:

Educational robotics was found to promote STEM education that meets the needs of K-12 in a dynamic and competitive environment. Specifically, educational robotics can promote 21st-century skills such as creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and computational thinking (Addido et al., 2023; Ziaeefard et al., 2017). Although policymakers in ministries of education recognize and support the initiative of STEM teachers to use educational robots in their classrooms, robotics is nevertheless not a mandatory part of the curriculum in many countries (Usart et al., 2019). Thus, integrating robotics activities into STEM education depends, among other things, on teacher’s motivation as well as external factors that support such integration (Deci et al., 1982; Fernet et al., 2012; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

This paper explored teachers’ motivation to use robotics activities in STEM education after participating in a robotics professional development program. Specifically, we focused on two dimensions of motivation: interest and utility. Furthermore, we explored teachers’ perceptions of their students’ motivation and the actual reported motivation by their students. In addition, this study explored the factors that can support STEM teachers’ integration of educational robotics in their classrooms and the advantages and disadvantages of implementing robotics activities in STEM lessons from the perspective of teachers and students.

The 30-hour professional development program was designed to help STEM teachers acquire the skills needed to develop and implement robotics activities for STEM classrooms. The program is based on the Task-Centered Instructional Strategy (Merrill, 2007) and includes a progression of three authentic tasks involving technological, pedagogical, and scientific knowledge with increasing difficulty levels and decreasing support levels.

A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative research methods was used in an exploratory case study. Five-point Likert-type motivation questionnaires and interviews were conducted with middle school STEM teachers after the completion of the program to investigate teachers’ motivation in integrating robotics activities and their perception of students’ motivation in performing robotics activities in STEM classes. Additional questionnaires and interviews were conducted with the students to investigate their motivation to engage in robotics activities.

Sixteen Israeli middle school teachers from Arab society participated in the professional development program. The results of the motivation questionnaires indicate that teachers consider integrating robotics activities into STEM lessons to be valuable and interesting for them as well as their students. These results are consistent with the findings on student motivation for robotics activities. This case study also revealed four main factors that motivate teachers to integrate robotics activities into STEM lessons: personal development, robotics activities are considered prestigious, the desire to arouse students’ interest, and the belief in the method as a pedagogical tool. Overall, teachers and students agree that integrating robotics activities into STEM lessons is beneficial for students as it promotes general skills and work practices.

Keywords:

Motivation, Robotics activities, STEM education.