Technological literacy through outreach with educational robotics

Abstract

Educational robotics has gained increased importance and attention worldwide as an excellent teaching tool for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). However, catching the enthusiasm of young learners who are not already interested in STEM remains challenging. In this paper, we describe our outreach concept where young people from Vienna and surroundings visit the technical university with their teachers for a three-hour program. Our focus is on technological literacy, the understanding of what a robot is and how it works and may look like, as well as different robotic application areas. Theory and hands-on are combined in an age-appropriate concept based on constructivism. In order to evaluate our approach, we have developed a short post-questionnaire. Our results with 255 young people ages 7 to 17 show that after the visit 84% are more interested in technology and 80% are more interested in robotics. 85% of the young learners find that robots are complex machines after the visit. Despite that fact, 85% of those who find robots complex are more interested in robotics, 85% want to come back to learn more about robotics, and 91% will tell their families about these activities.