Perspectives

            The Strategy for American Innovation (SAI) initiative sets fundamental objective to create a world-class work force for the 21^st century. The major task of SAI initiatives is that every student will graduate from high school ready for college and a career (National Economic Council, Council of Economic Advisers, & Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2011). The emphasis of SAI initiatives is on each K-12 student, the success of which depends on the ability of the STEM teachers to inspire their students, especially females and underrepresented groups through technology-rich educational programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The second emphasis is on their readiness for college and a career. This emphasis cannot be achieved without increasing underrepresented students' abilities to apply knowledge and skills to analyze, reason and communicate effectively (Conley, 2007; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2009).

Robotics Systems as Educational Tools

            Robotics systems have lately attracted the attention of educators, some of whom adopted (while some others questioned) the hypothesis that students learned worthwhile mathematics and science content during their activities (Sklar, Eguchi, & Johnson, 2003). The literature on robotics based learning environments was mostly composed of anecdotal evidence and convenience samples. Additionally, the samples were generally comprised of academically talented and gifted students. This confounds the findings because students whose academic abilities are high at the onset are likely to be highly motivated in addition (Silk & Schun, 2008). Robotics based learning environments have been credited with helping students assimilate concepts, that would otherwise be abstract and obscure (Miglino, Lund, & Cardaci. 1999), but there has been little empirical research to support these claims (Johnson, 2003).

            The common theme extracted from educational research literature on robotics was that researchers assumed their potential to provide a medium for holistic and interdisciplinary learning, once they were successfully integrated into the school curricula with explicit emphasis on core subjects (Johnson, 2003; McRobbie, Norton, & Ginns, 2003; Silk & Schun, 2008).

Methods

            In the current study, we will provide an example of an innovative short course. Secondly, we will investigate the participating students' capacity in mathematics and science (MS) literacy before and after the course. We seek answers to two main questions:

1)                  Does our innovative education practice improve high school students' science and math (MS) literacy?

2)                  How can the learning gains be explained, in terms of gender and ethnicity differences and how are the variables related?

            In response to the research questions, a two-week long course with a robotics theme was developed and implemented during a summer camp organized by a university affiliated STEM center. The short course included in-class teaching supported by independent study (research, assignments, journal writing, etc.) and exploration time (students worked on their designs on computers). The objective of the short course was to show students how to develop a unique robotics model that would move around (by accurate calculations) and conduct a series of science experiments (by analyzing unknown substances) at its destination. Students had access to LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0^®, graphing calculators with data collection capability, and a variety of sensors (eg., pH, temperature, light, etc.)

            The research questions were answered through a quantitative analysis of the collected data. Gain scores were calculated as the differences between post- and pre-test scores. The analysis involved descriptive, inferential (paired sample t-test, ANOVA for ethnicity and gender) and simple linear correlation analysis of the variables with the consideration of assumptions of statistical tests.

Data Sources

            Participants (N=37; 19 male and 18 female) in our sample were 11^th grade students from an inner city charter school in Texas. They were purposefully selected by the school administration according to their latest mock PSAT 2010 scores (The school divided the student population into three strands; A, B, and C. Our sample was the B group with PSAT_math= [Mean = 41; SD =  8]). The average PSAT scores of the participants were below the national average PSAT_math scores (mean = 49; no SD reported) (CollegeBoard, 2011). Demographically, two-thirds of the participants were African-American, while the rest (except for one White student) were Hispanic. Seventy-five percent of the students in the school were eligible for subsidized lunch, less than 3% had limited English and around half were reported as at-risk.

            Two versions of 10 open-ended questions were written to assess students' MS literacy through 2 different rubrics, which were designed in alignment with the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) framework. The variables concerned with research questions were: gender and ethnicity; pre-test and post-test MS. Reliability estimates of the scores from measureable variables were between 0.53 and 0.80.

Results

            Analysis of the pre- and post-tests showed that students' literacy scores increased in science, while there was no statistically significant difference in mathematics. A practical significance of the difference in science literacy tests was estimated with Cohen's d effect size to be 1.57. When the researchers investigated the main and interaction effects of gender and ethnicity (single White student was ignored in 2x2 ANOVA design), no statistically significant effect was found on any of the variables, including the gains (post test – pre test) from MS. Pre- and post-test correlations were statistically significant, indicating an acceptable measure of what we intended to measure. The correlation between MS literacy scores was low and statistically not significant before the course (r = 0.19). The statistically significant correlation after the course was increased up to 0.45.

Scientific Importance

            The current study contributes to the knowledge base on innovation based instructional practices by presenting how a robotics system can be used and improved as an instructional practice in mathematics and science, particularly to increase the science literacy of underrepresented students. Some improvement is needed to improve the mathematics dimension of the practice. Overall, the study broadens the participation of underrepresented groups and promotes robotics systems to be designed and implemented for all students to prepare them for STEM careers.

Organization of the Session

            The poster will include vivid photographs of student-created models, as well as visual representation of the results through appropriate graphics.