Teaching Programming with the Help of Robotic Kits in Middle School: Concrete Experience of Cycles and Conditions

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to determine the source of the problems experienced in coding teaching in middle school education with information technologies and software course and to plan studies to eliminate it. First of all, interviews were made with the students to reveal the problem and it was revealed that the students mostly had difficulties about "cycles" and "conditions" and could not grasp these issues. Then, an achievement test was applied for the academic reflections of the situation and an attitude scale was applied to determine the attitudes of the students. These collected data were analyzed and needs were determined. With the literature review for the solution of the problem, it was decided to include robotic applications, taking into account factors such as students' age, readiness level, environment, and cost. In the study, the groups to be taught were determined, and the measurement tools whose validity and reliability were ensured were included. A total of 50 students, each consisting of 25 students, 1 experimental group and 1 control group took part in the study. In this process, in order to collect data, the attitude scale and achievement test towards programming were applied to the control group, while the robotic attitude scale and achievement test were applied to the experimental group. As a result of the analysis of the data tools, both groups were indecisive in their attitudes (control group: 1.98; experimental group: 1.77), and the average of the experimental group (X1 = 53.5) and the mean of the control group (X2 = 52.75), it was concluded that there was no significant difference (p <0.05). The data of the data collection tools were analyzed and the teaching strategy to develop it was decided accordingly. The plans prepared in the implementation phase of the study were implemented. The application process carried out in the experimental and control groups for 3 weeks. According to results of attitude scale and interview data, the problems experienced by the target audience could be minimized. According to the results, robotic coding activities increased the academic achievement of students, provided positive attitude towards robotics, but did not affect the attitude towards programming. It was observed that the attitude scores towards programming in the experimental group increased more than the control group. In the light of all these results, it has been seen that the use of robotic kits in programming can be effective and beneficial.

Keywords: Education, programming, robotic kits

DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/6-10-06