Developing a Robotics Program to Improve Computational Thinking among Elementary and Middle School Students and Promote Pre-service Teachers’ Self-efficacy in Teaching Robotics
Abstract: In this project, we design and implement a robotics program in a non-school setting to engage 12 elementary and middle school students in robotics experiences. We have also recruited and trained three pre-service teachers as coach assistants of the robotics program. A concurrent triangulation, mixed methods design has been adopted to collect data through a computational thinking scale, session observations, program documents, and interviews, etc. We plan to triangulate the quantitative and qualitative data to understand students’ and pre-service teachers' program experiences and evaluate if there is any improvement in students’ computational thinking and pre-service teachers' self-efficacy in teaching robotics.