Design and development issues for educational robotics training camps

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: MEMET ÜÇGÜL

Danışman: KÜRŞAT ÇAĞILTAY

Özet:

The aim of this study is to investigate the critical design and development issues for educational robotics training camps. More specifically, the purpose of the study is to explore and describe critical design issues for educational robotics training camps, illustrating how each factor affects robotic camps and enlightening how these factors should be implemented for the design of a robotic training camp. For this purpose, two robotic training camps were organized with elementary school students. Thirty children attended the first camp and twenty two children attended to the second one. The research design was qualitative in nature, more specifically; multiple-case design approach was used. Interviews with children and instructors, observations, field notes, and camp evaluation forms were the data collection methods. The data were analyzed through the qualitative data analysis techniques. The data were categorized under emerged themes, learning outcomes, evaluation of the camps’ components, career, group issues, competition, coaching, technical issues, challenges and camp duration. Some prominent findings of the study are; the instruction strategy for a robotics camp should be designed from simple to complex. The most effective and liked part of the camps are project studies, therefore projects studies should be encouraged at robotic camps. Robotics training camps should give chance to practice to the children what they have learned at schools. The group size should be arranged that every child in the group should have duties at any time. The study was concluded with a robotics camp design guideline and a sample robotic training camp curriculum.