Related papers: Low-cost educational robotics applied to physics t…
This paper presents a novel framework for accessible and pedagogically-grounded robot explainability, designed to support human-robot interaction (HRI) with users who have diverse cognitive, communicative, or learning needs. We combine…
As robots and other intelligent agents move from simple environments and problems to more complex, unstructured settings, manually programming their behavior has become increasingly challenging and expensive. Often, it is easier for a…
With the recent advancements in the field of robotics and the increased focus on having general-purpose robots widely available to the general public, it has become increasingly necessary to pursue research into Human-robot interaction…
The shortage of highly qualified high school physics teachers is a national problem. The Mitchell Institute Physics Enhancement Program (MIPEP) is a two-week professional development program for in-service high school physics teachers with…
In this paper we report on first insights from interviews with teachers and students on using social robots in computer science class in sixth grade. Our focus is on learning about requirements and potential applications. We are…
Learning instead of designing robot controllers can greatly reduce engineering effort required, while also emphasizing robustness. Despite considerable progress in simulation, applying learning directly in hardware is still challenging, in…
Since 2006, forty students from high school are selected to attend a full immersion summer school of physics in the Pigelleto Natural Reserve, on the south east side of Mount Amiata in the province of Siena. Topics are chosen so that…
Robotic systems are multi-dimensional entities, combining both hardware and software, that are heavily dependent on, and influenced by, interactions with the real world. They can be variously categorised as embedded, cyberphysical,…
Physics in schools is distinctly different from, and struggles to capture the excitement of, university research-level work. Initiatives where students engage in independent research linked to cutting-edge physics within their school over…
In this paper we present a step forward to improve general physics as an educational experience: the implementation of a new course component composed by innovative workshop activities based on computational modelling in the general physics…
The teaching of abstract physics concepts can be enhanced by incorporating visual and haptic sensory modalities in the classroom, using the correct perspectives. We have developed virtual reality simulations to assist students in learning…
Typical educational robotics approaches rely on imperative programming for robot navigation. However, with the increasing presence of AI in everyday life, these approaches miss an opportunity to introduce machine learning (ML) techniques…
In this article, we plan to provide an introduction about some basics about robots for readers. Several key topics of classic robotics will be introduced, including robot representation, robot rotational motion, coordinates transformation…
In the symposium contributions we discuss research in physics education and the consequences of its results for physics teaching. The symposium presents four different aspects of physics teaching and learning, but all of them have…
Collaboration among students is fundamental for knowledge building and competency development. Yet, the effectiveness of student collaboration depends on the extent that these interactions occur under conditions that favor commitment,…
Institutional and social barriers in higher education often prevent students with disabilities from effectively accessing support, including lengthy procedures, insufficient information, and high social-emotional demands. This study…
The Michigan Robotics MBot is a low-cost mobile robot platform that has been used to train over 1,400 students in autonomous navigation since 2014 at the University of Michigan and our collaborating colleges. The MBot platform was designed…
Interactive reinforcement learning, where humans actively assist during an agent's learning process, has the promise to alleviate the sample complexity challenges of practical algorithms. However, the inner workings and state of the robot…
The use of robots in educational settings is growing increasingly popular. Yet, many of the learning tasks involving social robots do not take full advantage of their physical embodiment. MobiAxis is a proposed learning task which uses the…
Real-life control tasks involve matters of various substances---rigid or soft bodies, liquid, gas---each with distinct physical behaviors. This poses challenges to traditional rigid-body physics engines. Particle-based simulators have been…