Robot NAO integrated lesson vs. traditional lesson: Measuring learning outcomes on the topic of “societal change” and the mediating effect of students' attitudes

Abstract

Our research aims to examine the effectiveness of introducing social robots as educational technology within authentic classroom activities without modifying them to be designed for a robot. We chose as test subject the fifth‐grade curricular topic “The role of technology and its impact on society”, meeting the critical stage of moral development students aged of 11–12. The study, with both experimental (EG) and control groups (CG), will be conducted over 6 weeks. This study will examine the impact of robot‐supported lessons with post‐participation testing on learning outcomes and examine students' perception of the robot in the classroom as a potential correlation with academic performance. The form of the study will be a between‐group non‐randomised controlled experiment. Control and experimental groups will be matched concerning gender, mastery of technology and previous knowledge and understanding of the curricular topic in focus. The instructional design of process‐outcome strategies will incorporate all of Bloom's taxonomic levels. In the review of related studies, we identified gaps in social robot‐supported lessons within the regular curriculum between‐group experiment. Based on a review of related research showing more focus on robot performance in the classroom from technical‐interaction aspects we want to convey from pedagogical starting point. The robot's placement in the pedagogical process will be considered an integral part of the teacher's technical environment. We will use the pre‐participation test to establish whether there is the initial equivalence between EG and CG in terms of gender, mastery of technology, and previous knowledge and understanding of the curricular topic under examination.