Teaching Aids and Manipulative Teaching Means: Educational Robotics and Mathematics Using the Planned Bee-Bot Floor Robot

Educational Robotics in Primary Education

Research conducted in recent years internationally, suggest different approaches to the teaching of Programming and Mathematics, especially in secondary education (Papadakis, 2018; Papadakis, Tousia, & Polychronaki, 2018). The directions regarding the teaching of Programming focus on relieving the student from learning an abstract programming language where commands and syntax dominate. Thus, students are asked to draw examples from the “real” world and consider the interests and meanings they give in an interdisciplinary environment. Nevertheless, the difficulties in teaching Programming in Secondary Education do not differ significantly from those encountered in Primary Education. According to Fesakis & Dimitrakopoulou (2006) who attempted an overview of educational programming environments, they argue that the appropriate programming languages for ages 8-15 are Logo Like environments, Educational Robotics applications, as well as game creation programs, such as Game Maker (Fesakis & Dimitrakopoulou, 2006).

The Pedagogical Framework of Educational Robotics

Educational robotics today is experiencing significant development through the pedagogical current of the Logo programming language (Kalogiannakis & Papadakis, 2017b; 2017c). This pedagogical approach is enshrined in the context of classical constructivism and in the context of constructionism, as developed by Papert (Papert, 1991; Resnick, 1994).

The main objectives of this approach are:

• 1.

  problem solving through the handling and construction of real and imaginary objects,

• 2.

  the formalization of thought (using commands in a programming language for automatic handling),

• 3.

  socialization (human cooperation, interaction and promotion of thought through cognitive and socio-cognitive conflicts) and

• 4.

  the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to many disciplines and thus the promotion of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach (Kafai & Resnick, 1996).

However, the peculiarity in the programming of robotic constructions such as the Bee-bot creates a different working environment for students (Kalogiannakis, Ampartzaki, Papadakis, & Skaraki, 2018). Thus, this type of robotic construction programming works: a) motivating students, necessary element for the teaching practice, b) there is a connection with social reference practices, if one considers that the construction of various objects is a widespread social practice in the world of children (Komis, 2005), c) the testing strategy, which is familiar to Primary School students, is promoted, d) the possibility of different acceptable solutions is offered instead of a single and correct solution, e) supportive of metacognitive learning processes as it forces us to think about the way we think and act.