The Effect of Robotic Education on Problem-Solving Skills of High School Students in Physics

Increasing development of technology has led to appearance of machines calls robots which have influenced different dimensions of human life. Robotics is one of the newest technologies in today’s world that has a great role in industry today and is gradually expanding throughout human life. Robotics is a new tool that can meet many human needs and influence the attitudes and thoughts of people, especially adolescents, and influence their behavior, because adolescents are interested in gaining new experiences and technology, due to new inventions such as robotics, this need is met. Students feel more comfortable with technology and robotics, because this technology quenches their curiosity. The world of robotics is a combination of electronics, mechanics, software and hardware that is constantly evolving. In other words, a robot is an electromechanical device or intelligent software to replace humans, with the aim of performing various tasks. A machine that can be programmed to execute various commands or perform a series of special tasks, especially those that are beyond the natural capabilities of men. Robotics, due to its interdisciplinary nature, has an attractive approach to education, because it requires expertise in the fields of mathematics and aesthetics, while mathematics strengthens problem-solving thinking and aesthetics strengthens creative thinking. Therefore, it can be said that robotics is effective on students' problem-solving and creative thinking. This study aims to evaluate the effect of robotic education on problem-solving of junior-high school students in physics.

This is a semi-experimental and causal-comparative study. The statistical population includes all schools participating in the robotics training program in Tehran. Using cluster sampling, from 5 districts of Tehran, one district was chosen, and then randomly from its schools, 6 schools with 173 students were selected and 120 students were randomly selected among them. Research tools included a researcher-made questionnaire of problem-solving measurement and an educational package of robotic structures in physics. Its validity was confirmed by content validity method by robotics experts and testers and its reliability was achieved 0.95 using Cronbach's alpha. For data analysis, SPSS software was used in two levels of descriptive statistics (indexes of centrality and frequency) and deductive statistics (independent t-test, variance analysis and covariance analysis).

The findings show there is a significant relationship between educational robotic and problem-solving skills, and also, there is no significant relationship between the effect of robotic education on the level of problem-solving skills among girls and boys students.

Robotic education has a significant effect on problem solving skills of high school students. The present study, like any other research, has certain limitations such as using only one research instrument, i.e. questionnaire and not using other instruments and geographical and curricular limitations and training costs and robot construction, and need for advanced workshop equipment. There was a lack of original and standard software. Therefore, it is suggested that the present study be conducted in other geographical areas and in other courses and in places with advanced engineering facilities to increase the probability of generalizations. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that arrangements be made to investigate the effect of robotics on students' motivation and learning, and to provide accurate information to provide solutions for the correct use of robotics training. In addition, it is suggested that robotics training methods in other countries be considered to promote the effectiveness of robotics training on students.