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This study explored the integration of neural networks and artificial intelligence in image recognition for object identification. The aim was to enhance students' learning experiences through a "Learning by Teaching" approach, in which students act as instructors to train AI robots in recognizing objects. This research specifically focused on the cell division unit in the first grade of lower-secondary school. This study employed a quasiexperimental research design involving four seventh-grade classes in a rural lower-secondary school. The experimental group (41 students) were taught via an AI robot image recognition technology, whereas the control group (40 students) were taught via a more conventional textbook-centered approach. The research followed a pre-test design, with three classes lasting 45 min each, totaling 135 min of teaching time over two weeks. Evaluation tools include the "Cell Division Two Stage Diagnostic Test" and the "Science Learning Motivation Scale." The results indicate that learning through teaching AI robot image recognition technology is more effective than textbook learning in enhancing students' comprehension of the "cell division" concept and boosting motivation to learn science.

The combination of education and robots is becoming an increasingly important issue. Although researchers have conducted some studies on educational robotics in STEM education at the undergraduate level, no research examined the effects of gamified educational robotics on participants' motivation and creativity. Therefore, this study examines the effects of gamified educational robots on participants' learning motivation and creativity in STEM. A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study. A total of 108 students from two classes enrolled in the information technology course were involved as participants. Learning motivation and creativity scales were used to collect data. The participants were introduced to a gamified educational robot as the course objective, learning content, and game mechanism to increase motivation and help students solve problems. In contrast, students in the control group received conventional instruction consisting of group discussions and lectures. Activities in both groups were held for eighteen weeks in three phases. The results showed that gamified educational robots could enhance learning motivation and positively influence learners' creativity. The results also indicate that learning motivation has significant effects on creativity, and students with high motivation perform better in terms of creativity. The results strengthen interdisciplinary STEM teaching and promote students' learning outcomes.

The study aims to analyze the implementation of incorporating E-baby care in the servicelearning courses of colleges through the context of family education. The study applies qualitative research qualitative content analysis and interview and participant observation, supplemented by 260 questionnaire surveys, Structural Equation Model (SEM), and Second Order CFA model. The study objects consist of faculty and students from schools in Taiwan that incorporate E-baby care in the service-learning courses for colleges. The study aims to understand the effect of incorporating E-Baby care in the service-learning courses for colleges, cultivate students' literacy and sentiment in "care," accumulate the ability of observation and reflection, internalize value of abstract knowledge, and aggregate the experience value of peer collaboration.

Arts design has been proven to enable designers to have a meaningful learning of STEAM, but research on a checklist for assessing Arts design based on evaluating entries in a STEAM contest is still rare. Therefore, this study developed a checklist for assessing Arts design for evaluating miniature robots in a STEAM contest. Using an example of STEAM contest, named PowerTech, which has been held 22 years in Taiwan, we developed five dimensions of the checklist are: aesthetics, material usage, bionic, performance, and additional devices. There are two sub-indices in each aspect to be considered as the identification of form characteristics. Eight international experts were invited to review the content validity of the Arts design scale, and 30 completed checklists were used to test the reliability and validity though Kendall's coefficient of concordance. The results showed that the Arts design scale had high reliability and good validity, and so rubric index could be used to measure and assess Arts design with miniature robots in that integrated STEAM contest. Based on this, it is suggested that educational authorities can refer this study and for encourage students to create Arts in any integrated STEAM contests.

Computational thinking (CT) has gained considerable attention and in-depth discussion over the last two decades. Although the significance of CT has been highlighted, it could be challenging for educators to teach CT. Fortunately, adopting robots in education has been evidenced to be of benefit to promoting students' learning motivation, CT, and higher-order thinking skills. However, several significant factors affecting students' programming performances in robot-assisted learning activities have been identified, such as cognitive needs and organization. In this study, a CMR-BBP (concept map robot block-based programming) approach was designed by integrating concept maps into robot block-based programming to enhance students' programming learning. Moreover, a three-group experiment was carried out in an elementary school to evaluate their learning outcomes. The experimental results revealed that the CMR-BBP approach benefited the students' perceptions of their computational thinking and problem solving in comparison with the R-BBP (robot block-based programming) and C-BBP (conventional block-based programming) approaches. Furthermore, regarding cognitive load, both the CMR-BBP and R-BBP approaches enhanced the students' germane cognitive load, while the CMR-BBP approach effectively reduced their extrinsic cognitive load. This study could be a notable reference for designing other courses in conjunction with programming learning activities.

The use of robots in education has the potential to engage students in learning activities and aims to form lasting relationships with them. To encourage sustainable, long-term human-robot interactions, a promising approach is to cultivate a pet-like, interdependent relationship. However, the potential of such relationships in education remains unclear, and the limited availability of robots in classrooms necessitates flexible and scalable designs. To address these challenges, this study leverages digital twin technology to facilitate ubiquitous engagement with pet robots, thereby prolonging interdependent relationships through a SeamlessPet robot learning approach. Here, students engaged with both virtual and physical pet robots, enabling realistic and continuous interactions akin to communicating directly with a physical robot. This integration ensured consistent availability and authentic interactions, enhancing educational outcomes demonstrated in situational presentations. An experiment with 70 university students in a Japanese Hospitality Management Program in Taiwan demonstrated that this approach resulted in better learning achievements and fostered a positive learning experience. The pet-like features embedded within the digital twin robots played a vital role in fostering prolonged learning participation, empowering students to take ownership of their learning, stay motivated, and feel supported at any time and from anywhere in the learning process. Educators and curriculum developers are encouraged to consider this approach, particularly in courses with a final project presentation that uses a robot to demonstrate study results.

This research conceived multivariate learning concepts and aimed at the implementation of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) life learning of face recognition, self-driving, and robots' situational issues into problem-based learning (PBL) in natural science. This research put forward problem-solving and group cooperation in which students worked together to complete learning tasks from encountering problems to planning problem-solving. All 127 participants engaged in this research from the Hungkuo Delin University of Technology in Taiwan. 7 experts helped construct the content validity, construct validity, and reliability through instrument developments of 5 open-ended test questions and 31 learning attitude items. The statistical analyses revealed that those students improved their scientific cognitive skills of problem-solving by quantitative analyzes and presented their logical reasoning and activation ability by qualitative ones. In addition, the descriptive statistical analysis of learning attitude revealed that students had positive thinking attributes for the application of cross-disciplinary PBL and AI new knowledge. These findings had implications for the AI cognitions with PBL educational environment to increase innovation in the classroom. Pedagogical suggestions presented that students' learning growth in the environment requires long-term cultivation to exhibit significant learning outcomes in the future.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) proposed in 1996 "Shaping the Future" report that "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is a set of education methods that focus on learners. The STEM education actively cultivates students' independent thinking and creativity in the learning process. In recent years, the use of STEM education methods in teaching has become a trend in Taiwan's education system. In this study, a content analysis method is used to analyze and observe the knowledge learned and the attitude toward STEM education for a total of 30 junior students, who have no background in robotics-related professional knowledge, after taking a semester of project-based learning (PBL) robotics general course from National Chiayi University, Taiwan. From the study results, it is found that by integrating STEM into the acquisition of robotics, students can use logical thinking, compile different programs, increase their understanding of technical operations, and finally create more methods to complete the project. On the other hand, through PBL, students can stimulate thinking in discussions with their peers, and achieve the effect of problem-solving and stress-less learning. The findings of the study also show that the PBL robotics course provides the learning aids which is beneficial in exercising STEM education learned by learners.

Culture education can use a myriad of media, and this research explores how a robot can be used for culture education. To conduct the research, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted on adult and non-adult users. The findings showed that the two groups of respondents when calculated together had a higher level of satisfaction with educational effectiveness and the significant value of the system (89%, 917/1030) than operational experience (84%, 862/1030) and the robot's sensory appeal (77%, 797/1030). The findings suggested that respondents had attached greater importance to the significant value and educational function of the robot-mediated system. Gaps existed between the two groups regarding their responses to the robot's sensory appeal (84% vs. 64%), interaction with the robot (85% vs.77%), and reflective assessments on the value of the system (91% vs. 85%). Despite the gaps, the robot-mediated culture educational system has proved to be effective as it is in line with Norman's (2004) visceral, behavioral and reflective needs of emotional design by creating a sensory appeal, giving users delightful operational experiences, and yielding positive assessments. The implications derived from the findings shed light on the educational value of using the robot as an agent of culture education.

Understanding the obstacles and causes students faced while learning with new technologies is the key to inform effective instructional designs. To achieve this aim, this study conducted a qualitative video analysis on language learners' observable behaviors when they took part in learning activities supported by the technology of robots and IoT-based tangible objects. Insightful findings and instructional implications emerge from the attempt to explore learners' learning process in terms of the obstacles learners encountered and the causes of the obstacles. Based on the findings and implications, eight instructional guidelines are proposed for teachers/instructional designers to design effective language learning activities with robots and IoT-based tangible objects. This study contributes to the literature on enhancing learning and teaching by integrating educational robots and IoT-based tangible objects in the field of robot assisted language learning (RALL).

With rising societal interest in the subject areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM), a micro:bit robotics course with an online group study (OGS) system was designed to foster student learning anytime and anywhere. OGS enables the development of a learning environment that combines real-world and digital-world resources, and can enhance the effectiveness of learning among students from a remote area. In this pre- and post-test experiment design, we studied 22 (8 males and 14 females) 5th grade students from a remote area of Taiwan. A t test performed before and after the robotics course showed a positive increase in students' proportional reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, and ability to analyze a problem. Results also revealed a gender difference in the association between students' logical reasoning and problem-solving ability.

While recent years have witnessed increasing attention to technology-enhanced language learning, investigation regarding how technologies facilitate digital storytelling outcomes among middle school students in English-as-a-foreign-language contexts remains insufficiently explored. Studies concerning the effects of different presentation modes such as anthropomorphized robots versus PowerPoint on digital storytelling outcomes have been insufficient, and specific probes into affective domains such as emotion, grit, and perceptions have been even scarcer. The interplay between these issues, therefore, has yet to be validated. This mixed-methods study, accordingly, addresses these concerns by examining not only the relationship among digital storytelling outcomes, emotions, and grit in different presentation modes (Robot vs. PowerPoint), but also student perceptions. Focusing on 52 ninth-grade middle school students from a middle school in central Taiwan, the results from diverse data sources (pre-/post-tests, an questionnaire about emotions, a grit survey, a perception survey, and reflective journals) identified the benefits of both presentation modes. Nonetheless, the robot-assisted mode was more advantageous in making the learners grittier and led to higher storytelling outcomes as well as more positive affect. Storytelling outcomes were strongly and positively correlated with grit, including perseverance of effort and consistency in interests. Nonetheless, perseverance of effort was the best predictor of storytelling outcomes in the experimental group, suggesting higher perseverance of effort for better storytelling outcomes. In terms of student perceptions, the robot-assisted group using Kebbi Air was more positive about the overall learning experience, as demonstrated by higher responses to motivation, effectiveness, engagement, and satisfaction.

In-service teachers' professional development regarding technology adoption in education is often focused on only one specific technology. To maximize the utilization of technologies, teachers need to be able to leverage different technologies seamlessly. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is one of the most important frameworks depicting teachers' competences for effectively teaching with technology. The TPACK Support-Stimulate-Seek model (3S-TPACK) was used to design training programs with learning activities using robots, IoT-based sensors, actuators, tablets, and computer programming tools. The results show that the training programs designed by adapting the 3S-TPACK model not only can improve the teachers' learning outcomes but also can support positive attitudes toward adopting robots and IoT technologies in the teaching and learning process.

Review strategies after learning new knowledge are essential for students to consolidate the key points, understand the subject content, analyze aspects of the learning topics, and summarize the knowledge content of learning while mastering new knowledge. However, educators have found that students generally have difficulties seeking help when they encounter learning problems. This could significantly affect their after-class review performances. To cope with this problem, an after-class review approach with an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based chatbot is proposed in this study to provide students with immediate and quality feedback during the learning process. Moreover, a quasi-experiment was conducted to explore students' learning motivation, attitude, and academic performance when using the AI-based chatbot. Participants were two classes of students from a university in Taiwan. One class with 18 students was the experimental group and the other with 20 students was the control group. The experimental group used the AI-based chatbot in the after-class review, while the control group used the conventional after-class review approach. Research results showed that the application of AI-based chatbots in the review process of public health courses could improve students' academic performance, self-efficacy, learning attitude, and motivation. In other words, chatbots could help students become more active in the learning process. It is noted that after students asked questions, providing them with sufficient feedback during the review process could make them feel recognized and help to establish a relaxing and friendly interaction, thereby improving their academic performance.

This study used robot-based practices to develop an activity that incorporated the 6E model. The sixth-grade students learned interdisciplinary knowledge about how to use Arduino electronic components, microcontrollers, and hands-on tools to make a "Crab Robot." In addition, the students learned how to use Scratch programming language to control the robot and complete the "Crab Robot Crossing the Road" task. The study implemented a quasi-experimental design to examine whether the students who learned the robot-based activity using the 6E model acquired better learning motivation, learning performance, computational thinking ability, and hands-on ability than those who learned the activity through lectures. This study adopted purposive sampling to select 70 sixth-grade students from four classes, which were divided into the experimental group (6E model) and the control group (lectures). The experiment was conducted over a period of 18 weeks (for a total duration of 1,440 minutes). The results from the pretests-posttests showed that both groups of students improved their learning motivation, learning performance, computational thinking ability, and hands-on ability; however, the experimental group's scores were significantly better. More importantly, this study provides a pedagogy manuscript for instructors who want to teach mechatronics programs and programming design education.

This study employed drawing and co-word analysis techniques to explore students' preferences for AI-assisted learning environments. A total of 64 teacher education students from a university in Taiwan participated in the study. The participants were asked to describe their perceptions of AI-assisted learning in the form of drawings and text descriptions. In order to analyze the content of the students' drawings, a coding scheme was developed based on the activity theory framework. Based on the results of the analysis, it was found that students placed more importance on personalized guidance and appropriate learning content provision. In addition, students acknowledged that AI technology can be used flexibly in different fields and situations. Interestingly, more than half of the students agreed that robots play important roles in AI-assisted learning. This indicates that the students expected a social AI learning companion. However, it was found that students' expectations of an AI learning environment were less connected to the real environment and did not reveal learning activities with higher order thinking. In addition to the need for accurate and fast AI computing, this result indicated that professional instructional guidance is also an expectation that students have of AI education.

Robotics education has gradually been emphasized in contemporary school curricula; however, assessment tools for robotics learning are still limited. Based on Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives, this study aimed to develop the Robotics Learning Self-Efficacy Scale (RLSES) with a two-level construct of five dimensions for assessing students' self-efficacy for learning robotics. A total of 181 elementary, junior high and senior high school students (5th-12th graders) with robotics learning experience were selected as the sample of this study. A questionnaire including 32 candidate items designed for the initial version of the RLSES was administered to the sample. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted and, finally, 16 items were drawn for the final RLSES under five subscales ("Comprehension," "Practice," "Analysis," "Application," and "Collaboration"), with a total explained variance of 85.28%. The Cronbach's alpha reliability was 0.97 for the overall scale, ranging from 0.87 to 0.95 for the subscales. The inter-correlation analysis showed evidence of discriminant validity. Regression analysis results supported that "Practice" and "Comprehension" self-efficacy were significant predictors of "Analysis," "Application," and "Collaboration" self-efficacy, confirming the two-level (2 × 3) construct of the RLSES. Significant differences among school levels were found and are discussed.

Despite the widespread applications of robots in education, fewer attempts have been made to how robots help middle school students in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) contexts to tell stories, let alone the probe into student emotions. This mixed-methods study, therefore, aimed to address these concerns by focusing on digital storytelling outcomes, positive/negative affect, and learner perceptions as the result of different presentation modes (robot-assisted versus PowerPoint-assisted). With 52 third-grade middle school students from two intact classes in a junior high school in Central Taiwan, the results from multiple data sources (pre-/posttests, an emotion questionnaire, and interview) revealed the benefits of both presentation modes, yet the robot-assisted mode was more advantageous in contributing to higher storytelling outcomes and more positive emotions. Despite the positive emotions experienced in both presentation modes, the results of the negative emotions were more mixed, as the students in both groups highlighted feeling scared and afraid in digital storytelling preparation and presentation. Suggestions based on the results of the study are provided.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is now widespread, and the use of robots in education has demonstrated a positive influence on students' behavior and development. However, the use of emerging technologies usually results in cognitive load, especially for elementary school students whose learning capacity has not yet been established. In addition, students of different genders have different physical, psychological and learning characteristics, so gender differences affect cognitive load. Cognitive load can be divided into two types: positive cognitive load and negative cognitive load. Usually, positive cognitive load results in good learning performance while negative cognitive load results in bad learning performance. Therefore, we use the cognitive load theory to define learning efficiency as the co-impact of learning performance and cognitive load. We take game-based intelligent robots for Chinese idiom learning as an example, and explore the impacts of gender differences on elementary school students. To achieve these aims, this study combined games and Zenbo robots, and applied them to educate elementary school students in the use of Chinese idioms. Secondly, this study conducted an experiment and analyzed the experimental results. The participants were 24 fourth-grade elementary school students from the central region of Taiwan. Results showed that this system is more beneficial for boys as their cognitive load was significantly lower. Boys' learning performance was also better, although the difference did not reach significance. Furthermore, learning efficiency for boys was significantly higher. Reasons for these results are explained.

This research demonstrates the design of a Joyful Classroom Learning System (JCLS) with flexible, mobile and joyful features. The theoretical foundations of this research include the experiential learning theory, constructivist learning theory and joyful learning. The developed JCLS consists of the robot learning companion (RLC), sensing input device, mobile computation unit, mobile display device, wireless local network and operating software. The aim of this research is to design and evaluate the JCLS, which is implemented by using robot and RFID technologies. The developed JCLS system has been applied in real world for supporting children to learn mathematical multiplication. Both pilot experiment and formal experiment were conducted and the results showed that the JCLS can provide learners with more opportunities for hands-on exercises and deepening their impressions about the learning contents. Having many opportunities for hands-on exercises, learners can have more thinking time for knowledge construction. Using robot to design RLC can simultaneously increase learners' motivations and offer a more joyful perception to learners during the learning process. On the other hand, the JCLS can support instructors to immediately acquire the learning statuses of every learner for adjusting his/her in-class instructional strategy and giving after-school assistances. (Contains 7 tables and 8 figures.)

With the evolution of the surrounding world market, engineers have to propose innovations in products and processes. Industrial innovation frequently results from an improved understanding of basic physics. In this paper, an approach to accelerate inventive preliminary design is presented. This method combines the main advantages of CBR (Case Based Reasoning) and TRIZ (Russian acronym for Theory of Solving Inventive Problem) to transfer physics to industrial technology. Based on this synergy, interactive web-based environments are developed. These systems are intended not only to enhance students to become familiar with basic physics, but also to support students in building meaningful links between basic physics and industrial technologies. The evaluation was conducted in a "Special Project Design" course requiring students to design a robot that could carry out several functions. Robotics, an interdisciplinary engineering subject, has been a recurring theme in engineering education. Project-based learning provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. With project-based learning approaches, planning activities and investigations play a critical role in the project process. Through the web-based environments, students can explore the essence of basic physics, design technologies, and the integration of mechatronics. Further, web-based reasoning and meaningful learning modules are developed to scaffold creative design and to enhance student participation, motivation, and learning effectiveness. Quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the effects of the developed system. Findings showed that inquiry modules were able to facilitate investigation and planning activities in product design stages. The responses obtained were very encouraging. Students in the course were appreciative of these on-going changes and indicated that these were indeed helping them to develop their engineering thinking and design skills, increasing their motivation to study. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a maker's approach to teaching an operating systems (OSs) course in which students apply knowledge of OSs to making a toy robot by focusing on input/outputs, hardware devices and system programming. Design/methodology/approach: Classroom action research is involved in this study. Findings: After the course was taught in this maker's approach in two consecutive school years, some observations were reported. Students were enthusiastic in doing a series of assignments leading to the completion of a toy robot that follows a black line on the ground. In addition to enjoying the learning process by making tangible products, the students were excited to be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they learned with the robots they made. Research limitations/implications: The research results were based mainly on the instructor's observations during the lectures and labs. Practical implications: Lessons from this study can inspire other instructors to turn traditional engineering courses into maker courses to attract students who enjoy making. Industry should welcome engineering graduates to join the companies with more hands-on experiences they have gained from maker courses. Social implications: Although the maker movement has attracted much attention in K12 education, there is little research that studies how this maker spirit can be incorporated in traditional engineering courses that focus mainly on theories or software. Originality/value: Including electronics and mechanical components in programming assignments would bring surprising effects on students' motivation in learning.

Anthropomorphized robots are regarded as beneficial tools in education due to their capabilities of improving teaching effectiveness and learning motivation. Therefore, one major trend of research, known as Robot- Assisted Language Learning (RALL), is trying to develop robots to support teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL). As more practical studies on materials development have been called for, this paper details the methods of adopting the proposed RALL framework to design robot-assisted instructional materials for elementary students studying in an EFL national curriculum in Taiwan. Quantitative and qualitative experiments were conducted in this research to investigate the learning performance and motivation of the designed robot-assisted instructional materials. Two groups of participants from an elementary school in Taiwan enrolled in this experiment. The post-test results revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group, particularly in terms of the improvement of listening and reading skills. Furthermore, the motivation survey of the instructional materials also showed that the experimental group's learning motivation was positively influenced. Therefore, our research demonstrated that the instructional materials developed by our RALL framework provide a great opportunity to foster elementary students' English language learning.

The primary objective of this study was to determine how experience in learning to teach scientific inquiry using a practical approach affected teacher's attitudes, evaluations of use of inquiry and their actual design of inquiry based instruction. The methodology included the use an approach incorporating inquiry methodology combined with a technology-infused and engineering rich approach called "Intelligent Robotics" to help teachers learn and use a new approach to teaching scientific inquiry. The findings showed that these teachers progressively moved from more teacher-centered thinking about teaching to student-centered thinking and actions incorporating scientific inquiry. They also worked together in designing an interdisciplinary inquiry curriculum, providing an effective alternative to traditional rigid standards based curriculum and teacher directed instruction.

This study focused on an intelligent robot which was viewed as a language teaching/learning tool to improve children's reading ability, reading interest, and learning behavior. The iRobiQ, with its multimedia contents, was employed to encourage children to read, speak, and answer questions. Fifty-seven pre-kindergarteners participated in this study, and they were divided into an experimental group (30 children using iRobiQ) and a control group (27 children using a tablet-PC). After 2 months of experiments, the reading ability of the experimental group was better than that of the control group. It was found that using iRobiQ as a learning tool had many advantages, for example, the enhancement of learners' reading literacy, in comparison with the use of tablet-PC. In this study, there were three interesting findings: (1) iRobiQ is a more effective learning companion as compared to tablet-PC; (2) iRobiQ is a bidirectional interactive toy; and (3) iRobiQ can foster and promote the peer collaboration and competition because it has intriguing characteristics, particularly its communicative and interactive functions. The bidirectional interactive robots allow pre-kindergarten teachers to create more active and interactive learning environment for children and provide the children with more various learning contents.

This paper presents a design for a cutting-edge English program in which elementary school learners of English as a foreign language in Taiwan had lively interactions with a teaching assistant robot. Three dimensions involved in the design included (1) a pleasant and interactive classroom environment as the learning context, (2) a teaching assistant robot designed and built by the researchers as instructional technology (instructional tool/medium), and (3) the need for improved motivation and learning outcomes and positive learning experiences of the students as the core research problem. This Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) led to better pedagogical effects on learning and teaching by (1) employing a vivid, enjoyable teaching approach; (2) adopting practical, interesting learning materials; and (3) creating a natural, enjoyable learning context. Both quantitative and qualitative findings of this study indicate that the students' English learning experiences were enhanced, as were their motivation and learning outcomes as a result of this HRI. This paper, instead of merely suggesting design criteria for robots, provides a set of instructional design guidelines that other researchers can follow to create an innovative and enjoyable English classroom that employs an interactive robot as an assistant for enhancing English acquisition while simultaneously reducing the pressure and teaching load of the English instructors.

Educational robotics has been regarded as an effective instructional tool over the past decade. Many studies have tested the role of robots in supporting educational classroom activities. However, reliable empirical evidence confirming the effectiveness of educational robots remains limited. Therefore, this study developed an educational robot-based learning system that provides an attractive teaching application that combines multimedia objects with an educational robot. This study examined the impact of the proposed learning system on student learning performance and motivation. The four-stage experimental procedure involved a pre-test, post-test, learning activities, and questionnaire survey. The participants comprised one homeroom teacher and 52 second-grade students from two classes at an elementary school in Taiwan. All of the students were assigned to use either the proposed learning system or a PowerPoint-based learning system. The pre-test and post-test results show that the proposed learning system improved student performance more than the PowerPoint-based learning system did. A questionnaire based on the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) was employed to measure four motivational factors (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction). The IMMS survey results show that satisfaction and relevance were the highest rated motivational factors among students who used the proposed learning system. The experimental results indicate that the students were motivated to use the educational robot-based learning system. Thus, using educational robot-based learning systems in classrooms demonstrates a significant advantage for students, by improving overall learning interest and motivation.

A contest-oriented project for undergraduate students to learn implementation skills and theories related to intelligent mobile robots is presented in this paper. The project, related to Micromouse, Robotrace (Robotrace is the title of Taiwanese and Japanese robot races), and line-maze contests was developed by the embedded control system research group of the Department of Electronic Engineering, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. It targets both those students who have to earn credits for a one-year special topics course and those who are just interested in making robots, and it is designed to motivate them to learn digital motion control, path planning, attitude correction, curvature detection and maze-solving algorithms. The students begin by getting acquainted with the development environment of microcontrollers, the characteristics of different sensors, and servomotor control techniques. Having learned these basic skills, they acquire further specific advanced skills and proceed to design their own mobile robots to compete in contests. The special topics course students' robots must pass examination by five teachers. Blogs and a wiki Web site for recording students' progress and experiences enhance the project's learning outcomes. Although not every student wins a prize in the contests, student feedback still shows that the contest-oriented project did motivate them to acquire the skills necessary to build and operate intelligent mobile robots.

In this study, the researchers attempted to extend the concept of learning companions from the virtual world to the real physical environment and made a breakthrough in technique development of tangible learning robots. The aim of this study was to explore an innovative way by combining the speech recognition technology with educational robots in the hope that the state-of-the-art technology could provide learners with more opportunities of bi-directional language learning in the English class settings. The quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study and a total of 63 Taiwanese students in the fifth grade participated in the experiment. The results reveal that using the tangible learning companions in learning had positive effects on learners' learning motivation, confidence and engagement especially for the lower-achievement learners. Two learning methods were identified in the study, co-discovery and peer tutoring method. The co-discovery method enhanced the lower-achievement learners' learning involvement and their English speaking ability. Students perceived the tangible learning robots as friendly learning toys or ever like a patient instructor for practicing English conversation. Both English instructor and students agreed that uses of the tangible learning companions effectively improved the class atmosphere, and raised their and positive attitude toward learning English.

The POWERTECH contest in Taiwan was established in an attempt to promote inventiveness and technology to elementary school pupils. The POWERTECH contest is designed as a collaborative learning system for project design. Project design is comprised of technical processes, which include the construction of an artifact and improvement of its functions. Thus, pupils learn scientific and technical knowledge through a collaborative design project. The purpose of the study was to examine how collaborative learning could be facilitated in technological project design, and whether and how pupils working collaboratively were able to share their design ideas. The study was carried out by analyzing the design portfolio compiled by a team of four elementary school pupils who were engaged in a collaborative design project that focused on making a robot rat for the POWERTECH contest. A portfolio analysis was used in this study to help researchers assess the actual collaboration process among the team members. The study indicated that collaborative learning in a contest facilitated the sharing of knowledge and resources among the team members. Furthermore, reflections essential for problem-solving among the team members were often raised during the design process. These reflections were also conducive to the reduction of mistakes during the contest.

An introductory course for humanoid robot motion realization for undergraduate and graduate students is presented in this study. The basic operations of AX-12 motors and the mechanics combination of a 16 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) humanoid robot are presented first. The main concepts of multilink systems, zero moment point (ZMP), and feedback control are then introduced such that the students can understand the relationship between the ZMP position and the stability of the robot. Finally, the students can simulate the desired motion trajectory and realize the motion practically on the real humanoid robot. Taking this course, the students can not only learn robotic theories and control techniques for humanoid robot motion, but can also enhance their experience in hands-on experiments in executing the motion of a humanoid robot. The proposed educational strategy will enable students to progress easily to more advanced work on robot design and control in their future study or careers. (Contains 1 table and 13 figures.)

For the past several years, a team in the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE), National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan, has been establishing a pedagogical approach to embody embedded systems in the context of robotics. To alleviate the burden on students in the robotics curriculum in their junior and senior years, a training platform on embedded systems with co-design in hardware and software has been developed and fabricated as a supplement for these students. This general-purpose platform has several advantages over commercial training kits for embedded systems. For instance, the programming layer has been brought onto an open-source platform ported by Linux and [mu]C/OS-II such that it is mostly hardware-independent. Meanwhile, in addition to linking to fundamental library functions provided for robotics, users can program the codes not only in C language, but also through visual programming by means of a graphic interface developed along with the platform, allowing users to concentrate on higher-level robot function design. In other words, the platform facilitates rapid prototyping in robotics design. Meanwhile, a tailored laboratory manual associated with the platform has been designed and used in classes. Based on assessments and evaluation on the students who have completed this course, the curricular training is satisfactory and largely meets the requirements established at the design stage. (Contains 1 table and 12 figures.)

A project-based laboratory for learning embedded system design with support from industry is presented in this paper. The aim of this laboratory is to motivate students to learn the building blocks of embedded systems and practical control algorithms by constructing a line-following robot using the quadratic interpolation technique to predict the line position. For those students who have acquired basic microcontroller hardware and software programming skills from previous courses, the hands-on exercises in the laboratory include several specific hardware circuits and software algorithms for the final project of constructing the line-following robot. The students are allowed to discuss the hardware and software problems with each other while solving each exercise, although they have to answer the teacher's questions individually to earn the score. To enhance the learning outcomes, a racing contest for the students' line-following robots is also organized to see how well the techniques learned in the laboratory are applied in the final project. The support from the local branch of Microchip Inc. allows students to obtain C-compilers and microcontrollers at no cost. The feedback from students shows that the final project of constructing line-following robots and the racing contest motivates the students to learn actively all the skills included in the laboratory for embedded system design. (Contains 16 figures and 2 tables.)

As robot technologies develop, many researchers have tried to use robots to support education. Studies have shown that robots can help students develop problem-solving abilities and learn computer programming, mathematics, and science. However, few studies discuss the use of robots to facilitate the teaching of second languages. We discuss whether language teaching needs robot support, whether robots present an appropriate medium for language instruction, and what challenges must be overcome. In order to explore the possibility of using robots as an instructional tool for teaching a second language, this paper reviews prior studies concerning educational robots and analyzes the characteristics of robots and instructional media. Furthermore, we report on the design and testing of five instruction scenarios for teaching second language. Based on our empirical experience, we provide suggestions for future research directions in the realm of robots for language education. (Contains 3 figures.)

Task-specific training generally targets motor function, with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to determine whether motor function indirectly affects QoL through daily use of the affected arm and activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with chronic stroke. This was a retrospective cohort study of 155 patients who received training for 90–120 min/session, 3–5 sessions/week, for 4–6 weeks. The training involved specific mirror or robot-assisted therapy, followed by functional task practice for 15–30 min in each session. Patients were assessed before and after the intervention. At both pre-test and post-test, significant indirect effects of motor function on QoL through daily use of the affect arm and ADL were observed (β = 0.087–0.124). When the change scores of the measures between the pre-test and post-test were used, significant mediating effects of daily arm use on the relationship between motor function and QoL were identified (β = 0.094–0.103). Enhanced motor function after intervention may lead to an increase in arm use for daily activities and subsequently result in an improvement in QoL. These results highlight the critical role of daily arm use in task-specific training aimed at improving QoL. Task-specific training may improve motor function, daily arm use, activities of daily living, and quality of life in patients with mild-to-moderate arm hemiparesis. To improve quality of life in task-specific training, clinicians may work in sequence from motor function to daily arm use and then to activities of daily living. Emphasizing the use of the affected arm in daily life is critical to improve quality of life in task-specific training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of us interact with voice- or text-based conversational agents daily, but these conversational agents may unintentionally retrieve misinformation from human knowledge databases, confabulate responses on their own, or purposefully spread disinformation for political purposes. Does such misinformation or disinformation become part of our memory to further misguide our decisions? If so, can we prevent humans from suffering such social contagion of false memory? Using a social contagion of memory paradigm, here, we precisely controlled a social robot as an example of these emerging conversational agents. In a series of two experiments (ΣN = 120), the social robot occasionally misinformed participants prior to a recognition memory task. We found that the robot was as powerful as humans at influencing others. Despite the supplied misinformation being emotion- and value-neutral and hence not intrinsically contagious and memorable, 77% of the socially misinformed words became the participants' false memory. To mitigate such social contagion of false memory, the robot also forewarned the participants about its reservation toward the misinformation. However, one-time forewarnings failed to reduce false memory contagion. Even relatively frequent, item-specific forewarnings could not prevent warned items from becoming false memory, although such forewarnings helped increase the participants' overall cautiousness. Therefore, we recommend designing conversational agents to, at best, avoid providing uncertain information or, at least, provide frequent forewarnings about potentially false information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new era of integrating robots with artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things has provided huge potential for service robots to play important roles in our daily lives. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate whether a robot should have a separate device to incorporate digital content or use its face to toggle between facial expressions and digital content. From the human–robot interface (HRI) design perspective, a robot with a tablet obviously is closer to a real human teacher using a tablet while teaching students in a classroom. However, limited research has been done to explore such HRI design and its impacts on human behaviours. A robot-facilitated storytelling learning system was developed in this study to evaluate the impact of HRI design on college students' learning behaviours in two different conditions: 'Robot with Tablet' or 'Robot only'. The results revealed that both learning conditions of HRI design benefited college students from knowledge acquisition of vocabulary and comprehension of story content. Furthermore, 'Robot only' which is more cost-effective was found to be as good as that of 'Robot with Tablet' for the students in terms of knowledge acquisition, cognitive load and learning fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To examine the relationships among effort ensuring robots' smooth operation (EERSO), time pressure, missed care, and nurses' turnover intention, and how robot performance moderates such relations. Background: Robots may reduce nurses' workload but typically still require some effort of nurses for robots' smooth operation. However, the negative impact of EERSO on nurses' workplace outcomes is unknown. Methods: This study used a two‐wave follow‐up design. Data were collected in a medical center in Taiwan, with first wave collected in 2019 and second wave collected between 2019 and 2020. A total of 331 participants were followed through the two waves. Results: EERSO is positively linked to missed care and time pressure. Time pressure is also positively linked to missed care and turnover intention. Positive robot performance weakens the positive link between EERSO and time pressure. Conclusion: Using robots may help reduce nurses' workload, but it also requires nurses' efforts to maintain robots' continuous operation, that is, EERSO. It may adversely impact nursing professional workplaces. Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse managers should reduce nurses' time pressure whilst suggest hospital managers to seek robots that require minimal EERSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature for assessing online and offline shopping behaviours that are linked to intelligent robotic goods and services is inadequate. In this study, we applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour model for guidance regarding how consumer behaviour affects their purchase intentions for intelligent robotic goods and services., Methods: Data from 408 respondents were gathered through an online questionnaire binned into Online and Overall Shoppers, and analysed using SPSS, AMOS, and Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling software to evaluate the appropriateness of the measurements and to confirm data reliability, convergence, divergence, and validity. These tools were also used to track and test hypothesized relationships between the variables and model constructs used in this study., Results and Conclusions: The overarching outcomes from the data analyses indicated the Ease of Usage, Brand Perception, and Product Pricing variables causally impacted the TPB model constructs, namely Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behaviour Control for the two populations tested with respect to their intention to purchase intelligent robotic goods and services. The reliability measurements for Ease of Usage, Brand Perception, and Product Pricing are discussed. The results are important for companies and future investors because opportunities to study the complex relationships that ultimately drive consumer behaviour and their intention to purchase intelligent robotic goods and services are provided., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

An aging population and technology are two rapidly evolving phenomena occurring simultaneously worldwide. To examine the literature on the acceptability of socially assistive robots (SAR) among cognitively intact older adults, an integrative review of the literature was performed using Whittemore and Knafl's approach. Electronic databases searched included CINAHL, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library. Review was limited to peer-reviewed articles published between 2013 and 2019, in or translated into English language, and included evaluation of the robot within a social context in older adults aged ≥60 years with intact cognition. A total of five articles were included in the review. There were 125 male and female participants in all studies, and the mean age of participants ranged from 66.3 to 77.1 years. The robots studied varied in design and functionality. Findings showed older adults who are cognitively intact find SAR easy to use and useful, suggesting acceptability of SAR. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47(9), 49–54.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Robots are gaining attention as a potential solution to aging. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the attitude of robot assistance in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) among elderly people living independently. METHODS: The one-on-one interview, buddy robot video and questionnaire survey were used to analyze mean, median, range, and the test results of non-parametric statistical methods such as Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic and one-sample Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic, so as to explore the attitude of the elderly living independently towards robot-assisted ADLs and the acceptance of the use of robots in 32 ADLs. RESULTS: The results showed that there were significant differences in the attitudes, usability and ease of use of elderly people towards robot assistance before and after watching the Buddy Robot video and they had a more positive attitude after watching the video. According to the results, the elderly was more receptive to the use of robots in activities such as "reminding to carry objects" and "reminding to take medicine", while they were less receptive to the use of robots in the group or private activities such as "playing mahjong" and "taking a bath". CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the elderly had a positive attitude towards the use of robot-assisted ADLs, and there were differences in the acceptance of robot-assisted ADLs. The results are helpful to understand the assistance needs and attitudes of the elderly, and provide a reference for the design of assistive robots that meet user needs, and ultimately improve the ability of the elderly to live independently at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine how robot‐enabled focus on professional task engagement and robot‐reduced nonprofessional task engagement are related to nurses' professional turnover intention. Design: We adopted a two‐wave study design. Methods: We collected the first wave of data in a large hospital in Taiwan during October and November 2019 and the second wave between December 2019 and February 2020. We used the data collected from 331 nurses who participated in both waves. Findings: We found that robot‐enabled focus on professional task engagement is positively related to nurses' overall job satisfaction and perceived health improvement. Robot‐reduced nonprofessional task engagement is positively related to nurses' perceived health improvement. Both overall job satisfaction and perceived health improvement are negatively related to nurses' professional turnover intention. Conclusions: Robots' ability to focus nurses' efforts in professional tasks may help improve nurses' health and overall job satisfaction, and by extension reduce their turnover intention. Clinical Relevance: Nurse managers could suggest hospitals introduce robots, particularly those that can share nurses' nonprofessional workload. This, meanwhile, could focus nurses' efforts on professional task engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rising societal interest in the subject areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM), a micro:bit robotics course with an online group study (OGS) system was designed to foster student learning anytime and anywhere. OGS enables the development of a learning environment that combines real-world and digital-world resources, and can enhance the effectiveness of learning among students from a remote area. In this pre- and post-test experiment design, we studied 22 (8 males and 14 females) 5th grade students from a remote area of Taiwan. A t test performed before and after the robotics course showed a positive increase in students' proportional reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, and ability to analyze a problem. Results also revealed a gender difference in the association between students' logical reasoning and problem-solving ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotics education has received an increasing attention in recent years as a means to build students' motivation, team collaboration skills, and other valuable 21st century competencies. Yet there is a lack of experimental studies to investigate and identify strategies to facilitate robotics education. This study adopted a 2 × 2 quasi‐experimental design to investigate two strategies: the incorporation of augmented reality (AR) and the introduction of competition in robotics activities. Students' robotics task performance, team collaboration processes, 21st century learning competencies and learning motivation were measured as dependent variables. The results indicated that AR significantly improved students' motivation, team processes, and 21st century competencies. Moreover, the effects of AR were more pronounced with the competition groups. Implications are drawn to provide guidelines on the use of AR and competition in robotics education. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter?Robots in education have been recognized as an effective approach to enhance learning competencies.The benefits of AR in learning gains and motivation. What their paper adds to this?To design robotics curricula that can be used in middle schools.To understand what middle school students can learn from the robotics curricula. The implications of study findings for practitionersHow to utilize AR in robotics education.What are the structure and pace of robotics curricula for middle school students? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]