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The Effect of a Robotics Two Week After-School Program on Seventh Grade Attitudes towards Careers in Science

Walter GomezEDU 5121 Inquiry & Research

Bruce Haber

May 3, 2015

My Observations

I have observed in the past couple of yearsa new generation of students. These studentshave literally grown up with the rise of new technology, such as the internet and cell phone technology. These students have taughteach other whatever new technology is in trend at the moment, and they very much desire to use this technology whenever an opportunity allows it.

Alta Vista Middle Charter School

The students at the school are almost 100% Hispanic.A 1% is white. The school serves mostly childrenfrom immigrant families coming from both Latin and Central American countries, and living in the northeast Kansas City, Missouri area. About 98% of the students speak Spanish at home, so they are also considered English Language Learnershaving a composite score of less than 6.

Finding a Balance

According to the U.S. Department of Education(1999), students in the U.S. are falling behind other studentsin the world, compared to such technologically advanced nations as Japan and others. Moreover, standardized testing is increasingly becoming more the norm in schools, and after school activity programs are becoming more and more popular as well.Hence, a science teachers conundrum of finding a balance between preparing students for these Standardized tests and letting them become moreinvolved in after school programs such as robotics.

Paperts Study

According to Papert (1980), it is important for the teacher to create a learning environment which allows students to freelyexplore. Through exploration the student learns on their own through trial and error. Much like the process thatthe Wright brother went through in the development of their first plane. I have observed students to have an emotionalattachment to such a project, and I think that this is what motivates students to learn on their own.

Participants in the Study

The students were divided into two teams of five students Randomly chosen since only a sample of 10 students was used and the investigation would only last two weeks or six days. The 7th grade class is 99 percent Hispanic and about 1 percent White. Half were girls and half were boys. Hence the stratifiedsample included 9 Hispanic students and 1 Caucasian student.This sample, I think, was a good representation of the entire 7th grade at Alta Vista Middle School.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an after school robotics program.

Data Analysis Method

I used a Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) (Fraser, 1981). The test was given to each student beginning on the first day of practice. Students responded with strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. The TOSRA has a total of 70 questions. The TOSRA was givento each of the students at the beginning of two week session and at the end of the two week session.

The Results

The results were mixed. At the beginning of the survey 90% of the students had a strong interest in science compared to about the same at the end of the robotics session. Again, 90%. However, 85% stated that they were good in science at the beginning of the session compared to 100% at the end of session. Finally 70% stated that they were interested in a career in science at the beginning of the session compared to 95% stating that they were interested in science at the end of the session.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the problem was answered, but the results were mixed. Im not really sure if the after school robotics positively effected my middle school students attitude on a future career inScience. The data did show a positive effect, but I would like to study this further.

In conclusion, this action research project was very much a learning experience for me. As stated somewhere at the onset of this class, I hadlearned about the Action Research Project, and I even remember my colleagues discussing it during the early years of my teaching career, butI didnt fully grasp it until now, and even now I think I still have very muchto learn.

ReferencesKolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

OConnor, S. & McGuire, K. (1998). Homework assistance and out-of-school time: Filling the need, finding the balance. Wellesley, MA: National Institute on Out-of-School Time.

Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books, Inc.

Roger, J. (2003). Girls, Robots and Science Education. NSTA Pressroom. News Bulletin.

Weinberg, J.B., Thomas, S., Pettibone, J. Stephen, M. (2007). The Impact of Robot Projects on Girls Attitudes Towards Science and Engineering. Manuscript received June 20, 2007. National Science Foundation Grant Award.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1999). Advanced telecommunications in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools, 1995. [On-line]. http://www.edpubs.org