Learning Newtonian Physics through Programming Robot Experiments

Abstract

Novel technology has been applied to improve students’ learning abilities in different disciplines. The research in this field is still finding suitable methodologies, tools, and evaluation mechanisms to devise learning frameworks with high impact on students’ performance. This article describes an instructional method to perform Newtonian physics experiments by programming a mobile robot. Such experiments allow the learners to design, implement and visualize physics concepts, thus using the robot as a cognitive tool or mindtool . An accurate assessment of the students learning gain, involving 29 high-school students, shows that the proposed method provided significant improvements in the students understanding of the first Newton’s law, the second Newton law and the superposition principle. The learning gain has been measured through the Force Concept Inventory questionnaire. From this study, we can state that programming a mobile robot to perform physics experiments can improve knowledge about Newtonian physics, even without giving specific lectures in the subject and with a much shorter lecture plan with respect to traditional lectures.

Impact of Instruction-based LEGO WeDo 2.0 Robotic and Hypermedia on Students’ Intrinsic Motivation to Learn Science

“…This finding is in line with the results of previous studies [65][66][67][68][69][70] that found the use of robots in learning science had a positive attitude among students, fueled motivation, and enhanced interest and scientific curiosity. Also, this result is consistent with the findings by [82][83][84] that revealed employing hypermedia in learning science had a positive impact where the students had a positive response through learning with hypermedia, enjoyed learning, and became happy.…”

“…Ajlouni and Jaradat recommended using hypermedia to offer simulation for abstract concepts [12], while Badeleh and others used robots to motivate and engage students in learning science [41][42].…”

“…There is also no study in the Arabian context. Therefore, this study relied on conducted studies that employed it among different age groups of students across different countries, for example, in Italy [66] they conducted a study that integrated robots to teach physics concepts to highschool students. The result showed a significant enhancement in the student's understanding of physics concepts and principles.…”

From Integrated Rate Laws to Integrating Rate Laws: Computation as a Conceptual Catalyst

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The Effects of Computational Thinking Integration in STEM on Students’ Learning Performance in K-12 Education: A Meta-analysis

“…Moreover, CT integrated STEM learning enables students to see and test their hypotheses and visualize how systems work by using computer modeling and simulation (Lee & Malyn-Smith, 2020; Lee & Martin, 2016; Weintrop et al, 2014, 2016). Studies have suggested that the integration of CT into STEM learning can improve learning performance in specific STEM disciplines, such as science (e.g., Aksit & Wiebe, 2020; Irgens et al, 2020; Sengupta et al, 2013; Waterman et al, 2020), mathematics (e.g., Rodríguez-Martínez et al, 2020), physics (e.g., Aksit & Wiebe, 2020; Ferrarelli & Iocchi, 2021; Hutchins et al, 2020; Zhang & Biswas, 2019; Zhang et al, 2019), chemistry (e.g., Aslan et al, 2020), and biology (e.g., Dickes & Sengupta, 2013; Peel et al, 2019). Furthermore, CT integration improved STEM learning performance when it was integrated with multiple STEM disciplines, including science and engineering (Zhang, 2020; Zhang et al, 2020), science and mathematics (Sáez-López et al, 2019), physics and engineering (Yin et al, 2020), and physics and biology (Basu, Biswas, Sengupta et al, 2016).…”