Acquisition of Physics Content Knowledge and Scientific Inquiry Skills in a Robotics Summer Camp
Abstract
Despite the growing popularity of robotics competitions such as FIRST LEGO League, robotics activities are typically not found in regular K–12 classrooms. We speculate that, among other reasons, limited adoption is due to the lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the effect of robotics activities on curricular goals. This paper presents a mixed methods study exploring the impact of a summer robotics camp on middle school students’ physics content knowledge and scientific inquiry skills. It was found that the camp enhanced students’ physics content knowledge but failed to improve their skills in conducting scientific inquiry. Qualitative data provided an explanation of the findings.
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Williams et al. (2007) found no statistically significant differences when comparing pre-test and post-test scores for the scientific inquiry measure.
“However, no statistically significant differences were found when comparing pre-test and post-test scores for the scientific inquiry measure.”
From A Systematic Review of Studies on Educational Robotics (2019) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2007
Williams et al. (2007) found a significant difference in physics content knowledge measured by pre-tests and post-tests (M pre = 8.40; M post = 9.75; p = 0.004).
“The analysis indicated a significant difference of physics content knowledge measured by pre-tests and post-tests (M pre 5 8.40; M post 5 9.75; p 5 0.004).”
From A Systematic Review of Studies on Educational Robotics (2019) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2007
Cites
Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x018001032 · Cited by 13,645 · see citing works
Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come
Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x033007014 · Cited by 11,170 · cited 1× · see citing works
“It is considered as the third research paradigm in educational research, with the first two being quantitative and qualitative methods (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2004).”
MethodKolodner, J. L., Camp, P. J., Crismond, D., Fasse, B., Gray, J., Holbrook, J., Puntambekar, S., & Ryan, M. (2003) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1207/s15327809jls1204_2 · Cited by 1,061 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Many researchers emphasize the importance of providing resources such as case examples, information resources, and various scaffolding tools to support student-centered learning (e.g., Hannafin, Land, & Oliver, 1999; Jonassen, 1999; Kolodner et al., 2003).”
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Exploring the educational potential of robotics in schools: A systematic review
Benitti, F. B. V. (2012) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.10.006 · Cited by 1,200 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of Studies on Educational Robotics
Anwar, S., Bascou, N. A., Menekse, M., & Kardgar, A. (2019) · Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER) · doi:10.7771/2157-9288.1223 · Cited by 419 · see citing works
“…camps (Balaguer Alvarez, 2017; Barger, Gilbert, & Boyette, 2011; Doerschuk, Liu, & Mann, 2007; Ericson & Mcklin, 2012; van Delden & Yang, 2014), project-based learning environments (Carbonaro et al., 2004), and various STEM fields (Hussain et al., 2006; Williams et al., 2007; Nugent et al., 2010).”
Kim, C., Kim, D., Yuan, J., Hill, R. B., Doshi, P., & Thai, C. N. (2015) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2015.08.005 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
The Role of Robotics Teams’ Collaboration Quality on Team Performance in a Robotics Tournament
Menekse, M., Higashi, R., Schunn, C. D., & Baehr, E. (2017) · Journal of Engineering Education · doi:10.1002/jee.20178 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
- Authors
- Williams, D. C., Ma, Y., Prejean, L., Ford, M. J., & Lai, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette (US)
- Georgia State University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Research on Technology in Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2007-12
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 201-216
- ISSN
- 1539-1523 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-0818
- OpenAlex
- W2562691818
- Cited by
- 218
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research on Technology in Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Educational Robotics and Engineering
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Teaching and Learning Programming
- Keywords
- robotics education, summer camps, scientific inquiry skills, junior high school students, FIRST LEGO League, STEM education, informal science learning
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