The Game of Thinking. Interactions Between Children and Robots in Educational Environments

Educational robotics (ER) fits into a constructivist perspective that aims to overcome the dichotomy between researchers and practitioners through collaborative research. This sparks reflection on how to develop professional training for teachers. The laboratory is the privileged setting of ER activities. It is an educational space for training and research alike, and is suitable for learning to do, whereby children can handle robots and develop scientific skills. The Laboratory of Robotics for the Cognitive and Social Sciences of the University of Milano-Bicocca, directed by Professor Edoardo Datteri, conducted a series of activities within this framework. Using an ethnographic approach informed by grounded theory, where the teacher acts as a mediator rather than an instructor, the project included: labs in primary schools involving a Lego Mindstorms robot assembled as a small vehicle; labs in lower secondary schools to study the different approaches of teachers; a robot programming activity with preschool children at “Bambini Bicocca.” These research activities give children the opportunity to develop scientific and thinking skills, and show that ER can engage students in metacognitive reflection. Moreover, thanks to a well thought-out laboratory approach, robotics can cut across several educational skills, such as learning to learn, acting autonomously, solving problems. An in-depth study of the interactions between adults, children and robots also plays an important role in advancing the research with new knowledge for action: it sheds light on the problem-solving strategies of students and the behaviors of children and teachers.