A Preliminary Study of Robotic Education in Malaysia

Abstract

Robotics education was first introduced in 2005 by the Ministry of Education. This robotics program served as a cocurricular activity that emphasised creativity and innovation. Its program was introduced to primary and secondary schools throughout Malaysia. The program aimed to encourage and motivate students to use higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and as a way to promote science and technology education to students. Recently, Malaysian students' achievement in science at the international level has decreased drastically. Therefore this research is to review the effectiveness of the robotic programme in helping to improve students' learning and achievement in science and technology. The main objective of the government which introduced robotic education was to produce highly skilled human capital, knowledgeable, dynamic, and competitive in science and technology. The method of implementation is that interested students' can participate in the school's robotic club and those students who can master the skills taught can participate in competitions conducted at the state, national, and international levels. Findings from robotic education have helped elevate students' achievement at the international level through the world robotic competitions. It is concluded that robotic education is able to attract students to study science and technology and improve their achievement at the international level with such skillsets.