Innovation in Preservice Teacher Education: Drone-Based Learning

Introduction

Many institutions have initiated a process of creating innovative learning environments in Portugal since 2016. The innovative learning environments originated an ecosystem that has modified educational practices, combining innovative didactical approaches with the transformation of physical spaces and the creation of teachers’ community of practices. These environments are also appropriate to the use of emerging technologies in education.

One example of this innovation context was the creation of the project CreativeLab_Sci&Math in the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém. The aim of this project is to explore interdisciplinary practices between science and mathematics, according to innovative educational approaches, such as drone-based learning. The development of innovative learning environments and the usage of educational technologies in the context of science and mathematics education are also goals of this project. The CreativeLab_Sci&Math project is also an environment of collaboration of science and mathematics teachers of the institution with other teachers of national and international higher education institutions (Cavadas et al., 2019). Experiencing this interdisciplinary collaboration has produced the benefit pointed out by De Greef et al. (2017) of emerging insights form disciplinary perspectives which are integrated to deliver a more comprehensive understanding of a problem.

In the present work, a drone-based learning activity named “Drone delivery” was created and implemented with preservice teachers (PSTs). This activity is an example of a practice implemented on that innovation context that may be useful for other science education teachers and researchers. It was elaborated and implemented with the collaboration of science education teachers, according to the steps of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) (NASA, 2018). The research question that guided this study was:

• What was the impact of the drone-based learning activity “Drone delivery” in the engineering designing performance and conceptualization of engineering education of preservice teachers?

The objectives of this exploratory study are:

• To assess the impact of the drone-based learning activity “Drone delivery” on preservice teachers’ engineering design performance.

• To evaluate the preservice teachers’ conceptions about engineering education before and after the implementation of the drone-based learning activity.

Background

Drone has been defined as an “as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), [it] is a flying robot that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously using software with sensors and GPS” (UN, 2021, p. 17). The development of drone technology caused the decrease of prices and led to the civil use of drones since 2000 (Ng & Cheng, 2019). Regarding drone usage in the economy, in the Warsaw Declaration, a common statement signed by the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction, the Polish Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency (n.d.), the signatories considered drone services had increasing potential. It is necessary further development of this potential to support EU competitiveness and global leadership. These stakeholders considered that drone usage should be regulated, commercially and operationally friendly, but capable of addressing all societal concerns such as safety, security, privacy and environmental protection. It is expected that 100,000 more drone-related jobs will be added in the United States alone between 2013 and 2025 (UN, 2021).