GUY KEREN, MARINA FRIDINFACULTY OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, ARIEL

UNIVERSITY CENTER, ISRAEL

THE THERAPEUTIC AND EDUCATIONAL SOCIAL ROBOTICS LAB

Kindergarten Assistive RoboticFor

Geometrical Thinking And Metacognitive Development

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ROBOTICS & EDUCATION

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We focused on children 4–6 years old: the preschool years are considered critical for children’s overall development

(Chambers & Sugden, 2002) .

We developed KINDERGARTEN ASSISTIVE ROBOTICS(KAR).

• Robots as a tool for the teaching• Subjects closely related to the robotics field: mechatronics,

electronics, programming, physics, mathematics; helped to improve problem solving, logic, and scientific inquiry (Benitti, 2011).

• Participants ages 6 -16. • Not integrated into classroom activities, took place in an after-

school or summer camp program. • Platform : mainly Lego

• In the field of child care• Social Assistive Robotics : children with autism (Kozima, Nakagawa, &

Yano, 2004).• iRobi in elementary school : wheeled robot, educational activities

mainly through embedded computer-based games (Han, Jo, Park, &

Kim, 2005) • AIBO, a robotic pet, in class work for 4‒6-year-olds (Yamamoto,

Tetsui, Naganuma, and Kimura, 2006)

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Geometrical

Thinking

Geometry is everywhere:

art, architecture, engineering, robotics, astronomy, sculptures

…  

Main theory: van Hieles geometric thinking levels

Often ignoring in early education (Sarama & Clements, 2009).

Existing system (mostly for higher education): Web-based virtual environment (Rafi,

Khairul Anuar, Samad, Hayati, & Mazlan, 2005)

GeoCAL, a multimedia learning software (Chang et al., 2007)

Main Problem : learning in 2D about 3D

Possible Solution: embodiment system

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Classical WesternMusic

Listening to the music improve brain development,

mathematical and overall academic achievements (Cox &

Stephens, 2006). children’s spatial abilities

(Fukui & Toyoshima, 2008).

Listening is enough (Nieminen, Istok, Brattico, Tervaniemi & Huotilainen,

2011). Music stimulates

arousing emotions (Zentner & Eerola, 2010).

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One person from Educational or Scientific Staff

~1 m

SETUP

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PROCEDURE

Introduction

Presentation of seasons in cyclic order, the robot explains, dances, plays Vivaldi “Four Season”

Finding button for each season, positive reinforcement feedback: dance

Parting

PROCEDURE

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Geom

etr

ic t

hin

kin

g

Level 0 - Recognition: child recognizes the geometric shapes of the robot; pays attention to the visual characteristics of geometric patterns.Level 1 - Visual Association: infers shapes based on their characteristics.

Robot asks children to look at the screen and take notice of the basic shape of its picture shown there.

Robot asks children to inspect parts of its body and locate buttons on it.

Robot asks children to distinguish between upper and lower parts of its body (hands, head) and front and back parts of its head (noting back and front buttons on the head).

Visual motor skills: eye- hand coordination

Robot asks children to push the relevant

buttons.

Level 2 - Description/Analysis: identifies attributes of geometric shapes such as spatial relationships between parts.

van Hieles

Thinking about

thinking

Three components: Metacognitive knowledge:

knowledge and awareness of one’s own cognitive processes and products (Flavell & Wellman, 1977).

Metacognitive skills: the ability to use the metacognitive knowledge strategically in order to attain cognitive objectives (Desoete, 2008).

Metacognitive experiences: the awareness and feelings that arise when an individual encounters a task and processes the information related to it (Efklides, 2008).

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METACOGNITION

METACOGNITION

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•Often ignoring in early education•The question of whether metacognition is learnable is still a matter of debate•Instructions:

o Awareness, control of meta-task rather than task procedures

o Self-monitoringo “Thinking aloud” (Kramarski & Mevarech,

2003)o Develop child’s linguistic component

(Zohar, 2004)o Cooperative learning (Cross & Paris, 1988)o Visibility (Hennessey, 1999)

o Motivation (Eisenberg, 2010)

PROCEDURE PROTOCOL ANDSUBJECTS

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Group

Boys Girls Total

1 4 1 52 2 2 43 4 4 8

Total 10 7 17

G3 n=8

G1n=5

Timeline (Days)

First meeting procedur

e

81 15 22

G2n=4

Four Seasons Procedure

Session 1 Session 2

Cognitive Stage Robot teaches the children

Session 1 Session 2

Metacognitive StageA child (G2) teaches

children (G3) using the robot

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• Interaction Level (IL)

o Repeated measures (segments of the procedure) ANOVA, the three between-subject factors: stage (cognitive/metacognitive), session (1, 2), and gender (boy, girl).

• Velocity of Learning (V)

o Same as for IL

• Metacognitive measurement (MM)o Observational checklist: 22 items for measuring

metacognition and self-regulation

DATA ANALYSIS

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3

1

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FSss FWSignECIL

RT

AVEV

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RESULTS

• Interactio

n Level

• Cognitive

• Meta Cognitive

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CONCLUSIONS

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• Uncovered topics in preschool education: children improved both geometrical thinking and metacognition

• Gender: no differences

• Key for successes:o Embodimento Game-like activity o Collaborative worko Visualo Music, dance, free movemento Motivation, emotional arousing

• A lot of future work….

KAREthical Issues and First

Meeting ProcedureSelective Attention and

Motor TrainingStory TellingGender DifferencesTeam DecompositionAcceptance by

Educational StaffVirtual RobotSpatial Cognition……..

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THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION