Abstract
This paper discusses the new implementation of a strengthened introductory training course in Educational Robotics for pre-service and in-service learning support teachers. By means of a final written questionnaire we compare the results of the course in 2015 with this year course, when the number of hours were doubled. This year participants expressed a higher appreciation and a better attitude towards robotics. Teachers agreed on the conviction that robotics can enhance students’ motivation to learning and that educational robotics sustains a new point of view on science for teachers. Regarding the implementation in class, approximately two third of the participants declare they had already an idea on how to integrate robotics in curricula. More specifically, participants named ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), learning disabilities, mild mental retardation as aspects that can be effectively addressed by ER.
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Acknowledgement
We thank the director of the Specialization course for teaching support of disabilities for the opportunity of the ER lab. This work was partly supported by the project: ERASM: Educational robotics as a validated mindtool: methodology, platforms, and an experimental protocol, code: CPDA145094, funded by the University of Padova.
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Agatolio, F., Pivetti, M., Di Battista, S., Menegatti, E., Moro, M. (2017). A Training Course in Educational Robotics for Learning Support Teachers. In: Alimisis, D., Moro, M., Menegatti, E. (eds) Educational Robotics in the Makers Era. Edurobotics 2016 2016. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 560. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55553-9_4
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