Dejian Liu’s research while affiliated with Beijing Normal University and other places

This book presents advances in the research of educational robotics and showcases how they can be used to facilitate learning. It summarizes popular and relevant terms and theories in educational robotics via analyzing one hundred influential journal articles in this field, to provide readers background knowledge on the subject matter. This book also guides readers in understanding how different types of robotics are utilized to promote learning among different types of students, in different contexts, and in different disciplines of study.

3D printing or additive manufacturing, creates physical objects from a geometrical representation by successive addition of materials (Shahrubudin et al., 2019). 3D printing is a fast-emerging technology widely used for mass customization and open-source design production in various industries, including agriculture, healthcare, automotive, locomotive and aviation. It prints objects layer by layer directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) model.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing, which has already brought us to what can be considered the “intelligent era” where AI has penetrated almost every aspect of society. This can be seen by the series of sophisticated products and services that have emerged to form an “AI ecosystem” which has brought with it the benefits of the technology to individuals, to businesses and to service of public interest.

STEM is the abbreviation for the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM education is a comprehensive education based on the idea that these four areas of learning should be taught together in an integrated manner, as opposed to teaching them separately. With this holistic learning style, students apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics in contexts that make connections between the classroom and the world around them. Thus, STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons. It also allows students to explore a wide range of topics and work with cutting-edge tools and technologies. As STEM education is viewed as a valuable method to help students better understand the world around them and gain skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration, such education can be said to prepare students for the challenges that they will face in their future lives.

It is a challenge for teachers or professors who use traditional techniques (such as oral explanations, PowerPoint presentations, etc.) to provide students with a clear understanding of abstract theoretical concepts in K-12 and higher education. Therefore, a valuable topic is how to integrate robotics to complement traditional pedagogical practices in basic disciplines in K-12 and engineering courses in higher education, thereby solving the poor learning of traditional methods, improving students’ understanding of abstract concepts and fostering students’ interest, among other benefits.

Programming is the implementation of logic to facilitate specified computing operations and functionality which consists of traditional education (C++ and Java) and robotics. Different from robotics, traditional education has an abstract programming structure, and often students are not able to reach sufficient maturity levels without guidance. Robot-based programming is the process of defining specific commands of an application for an educational robot which is an interesting teaching tool that will help teachers when going through many topics while keeping students engaged. And moreover, it is suitable for all levels and age groups. Learning computer programming often goes along with growing other skills such as logical thinking, problem-solving through tests, modifications and optimization, problem modeling, etc. Robotics is highly stimulating for younger students and allows them to grow important soft skills such as problem-solving, creativity and team spirit. In higher education, robotics allows students to work with real hardware in order to be prepared for the challenges of real physical work. Studies have shown that the main problems of current robot-based programming feature three main points. First of all, it is impossible to promote the popularity of engineering colleges in robot-based programming because of the lack of necessary equipment. Secondly, the shortage of qualified teachers is a key factor that restricts the development of robot-based programming education. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the professional ability of front-line teachers to promote robot-based programming. Finally, related teaching materials should be used to meet the demand for students of all grades levels.

The fourth industrial revolution keeps pushing the advancement of technology in the form of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and natural language processing (NLP) which increasingly makes the use of conversational agents (such as chatbots) in education a possibility. Advanced conversational agents are powered by AI and exploit NLP to have text-based dialogues with users. A conversational agent can also make use of speech recognition technology to have a spoken conversation with a user. Developers of conversational agents design them to mimic human-like conversations in a way that is indistinguishable from having actual interaction with a human. As a result, some conversational agents are imbued with human qualities like personality, emotion and humor. AI-powered conversational agents are able to offer learning support and enable a learner to engage in self-assessment which can be difficult to provide in traditional learning environments. In addition to providing personalized learning to users, conversational agents adopt human pedagogical roles such as learning companions, coaches or tutors in educational settings. Pedagogic conversational agents also promote collaborative learning in technology-enhanced learning environments such as e-learning, online learning, massive open online courses (MOOC) and in other virtual worlds. The use of conversational agents as pedagogical agents is underscored as having the potential to enhance learning outcomes and memory and increase the motivation of learners to engage in the learning process. At the same time, it brings up discussions on academic integrity while applying such technology.

Cognitive training aims to maintain or improve cognitive functioning (e.g., memory or attention) through structured and guided activities carried out individually or in a group. The difficulty level of activities can be adapted to individual functioning. It has also been demonstrated that cognitive training can enhance the cognitive functioning of people with mild dementia.

This handbook covers two types of educational robots: educational robotics and educational service robots.