Educational Robotics and adolescents from disadvantaged contexts. A research path on communicative mediation

The paper analyses 7 educational robotics workshops carried out by the University of Milano-Bicocca from February to April 2021 at the “Antonia Vita” Popular School in Monza, as part of the Horizon C4S Project. These activities have been conducted with Coderbot with a maximum of 7 students aged between 13 and 16 from socio-culturally disadvantaged environments, some with learning disorders and difficulties. This research fits into the theoretical framework of Educational Robotic Applications (ERA), mainly focusing on five principles that have been identified as significant within our context: embodiment, engagement, sustainable learning, personalisation, and equity (Catlin, Blamires, 2010). Specifically, the aim is to analyse in-depth didactic mediation strategies (Rossi, 2016) in school environments that are characterised by socio-linguistic deprivation (Lumbelli, 1992), especially regarding the direction assumed by one or more expert adults (Bozzi, Zecca, 2021; Lumbelli, 1974). This is a field still little explored with respect to this specific age group, and in particular to those adolescents using the so-called “restricted code” (Bernstein, 1971). The workshops have been conducted according to 5 phases: 1) engagement, with the aim of gathering students’ representations on the concepts of “science” and “robots”; 2) Game of Science (GoS) with a robo-ethological approach (Datteri, Zecca, 2016), to let students express free scientific observations and explanations and investigate interactions between adults, students and robots; 3) algomotricity or body simulation, i.e. the unplugged phase which precedes coding (Lonati et al., 2015); 4) training of 2 student-tutors on some functionalities of the robot; and 5) peer tutoring with a PBL approach. All activities have been video-recorded and partially transcribed; the research team is achieving and discussing the first results by leading the analysis in a mixed way, both grounded and using SOFC - Instrument for the Observation of Communicative Functions in the Classroom.