Using Educational Robotics as Tools for Metacognition: an Empirical Study in Elementary STEM Education

Abstract

Despite that educational robotics (ER) are considered a novel learning tool that can support students in developing higher-order thinking skills, their role in promoting students’ metacognitive thinking remains unclear. This work aimed at investigating the potential added value of ER in promoting students’ metacognitive thinking in the context of elementary STEM education. One-group (n=21) pretest–posttest research design was used to examine the hypothesis that ER can serve the learning process as metacognitive tools. Data collection included demographic data, questionnaires investigating students’ metacognitive thinking and in-situ metacognitive processes evident via visualizations and performance (or calibration) judgments. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in students’ abilities to regulate their own cognition performing actions of metacognitive regulation such as planning, monitoring, and debugging strategies. Besides, while the analysis showed that students’ ability to visualize a problem scenario was not differentiated, students’ accuracy on performance judgments (prediction and postdiction judgments) was significantly improved.