Robotic Teaching Assistance for the “Tower of Hanoi” Problem

1. Introduction

In recent years, robots have started to become a tool for teaching assistance. “Educational robotics” is the term now commonly used to refer to robotics being used as a tool for learning (Papert 1980, 1986, 1993; Eguchi 2012). Since the early 1980’s, robotics platforms designed for education present a wide range of costs, types of parts, and complexities (Grandgenett et al. 2012; Miller et al. 2008; Melchior et al. 2005). Many robotics kits include a programmable brick or controller and can be programmed in one or more languages (Eguchi 2012). Educational robotics initiatives can be grouped on the basis of the purpose for using robots: using (i) robots as the learning objective, (ii) robots as a learning aid, and (iii) robots as a learning tool like a practical teaching assistant (Eguchi 2012). In the latter case, educators find robotics appealing because of the robots’ ability to catch the attention of youth; robots are highly engaging and motivating and encourage learning about STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics - concepts (Grandgenett et al. 2012; Miller et al. 2008; Melchior et al. 2005).

Robots provide a way for youth to quickly apply abstract concepts like mathematical equations to tangible tasks (Nelson 2012). Further, robotics activities promote collaboration, teamwork, positive youth development, and foster learning of 21st century skills and computational thinking (Eguchi 2012; Elizabeth et al. 2003; Sklar et al. 2000; Lund et al. 1998). For example, in an introductory engineering course project, robots inspired increased shared leadership and engagement when compared to a similar assignment without robots (Melchior et al. 2005); robots have even been used for storytelling (Melchior et al. 2005) and by kindergartens to express aspects of their identities (Elizabeth et al. 2003).