Robotics and coding in primary school curriculum at Foundation Phase in East Cape South Africa

• Introduction—Global Context ie use literature from other places not south Africa

• Conceptual

Explain Conceptual-key concepts First- Explain robotics, coding, primary school phase, foundation
phase teaching

1. What is coding

2. What is robotics

3. What is foundation phase

4. How do teachers teach in foundation phase

Explain core knowledge, skills values and attitudes are developed as a result of engaging in coding
and robotics; eg computational thinking skills, self regulation,

1. Core knowledge embedded in coding

2. Core knowledge in robotics
3. Skills important to code appropriately
4. Values important in coding and robotics
 5. Attitudes required when coding
6. Attitudes required in robotics

How does coding and robotics relate to International imperatives ( 4IR), Sustainable development
goals, National Development plan.

1. Which international imperative does 4IR relate

2. Which sustainable development goal align with robotics and coding
3. Which NDP focus does robotics and coding align with

What is the reason behind introducing coding and robotics at a young age

1. How should robotics and coding be taught to primary school children in the foundation phase

2. Is there any evidence that teaching robotics and coding is effective

• What opportunities exist to make coding and robotics effective

• 2 Context- domain or location-primary schools in rural/township schools.

• What are the keys characteristics of children in foundation phase

• What is the reason why children at foundation phase struggle to read, write, communicate,
concentrate, focus on their learning

• Using your knowledge of educational psychology How should children be foundation phase be best
taught to address the issues above eg play, games.

• How does the teaching of coding and robotics contribute to children’s learning to address expression,
communication, reading , writing, concentration?

3. Practice

In which fields or domains are coding and robotics

• Practice-intervention- teaching foundation phase learners coding and robotics,

 What content/subject knowledge do teachers need to have to effetely teach robotics and coding

Bell, T., Duncan, C., & Rainer, A. (2017). What is coding?. In Creating the coding generation in primary
schools (pp. 3-21). Routledge.

Videnovik, M., Vlahu‐Gjorgievska, E., & Trajkovik, V. (2021). To code or not to code: Introducing coding in
primary schools. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 29(5), 1132-1145.

Mannova, B. (2022). Teaching Coding in Schools. In EDULEARN22 Proceedings (pp. 5961-5967). IATED.

• teaching aids on ict and ict related are required to teach robotics

• teaching strategies /pedagogical strategies for effective teaching robotics and coding to foundation
phase learners

• Which technologies required for teaching robotics, resources required for teaching robotics, m

• Models approaches to teaching robotics eg camps.hackathods, topic within STEM curricula, stand
alone subject,

• 5. Opportunities provided to learners by learning coding and robotics

• Core skills knowledge and values , attidudes and gleaned from learning coding and robotics by
children

• How teaching facilitate the requisite age appropriate competencies

• Observed challenges in teaching coding and robotics based on teaching techniques, methods and
strategies

• Challenges experienced in teaching robotics and coding

References for Nzuza

Fronseca, David., Amo, Daniel., Fox Paul B., Poyatoes, David.(2020)Systematic review on which analytics
and learning methodologies are applied in primary and secondary education in the learning of robotic
sensors. Sensors 2021, 21, 153 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33383709

(2018). Systematic review of research trends in robotics education for young children. Sustainability , 141
https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040905

Skills

Gratani, F., Giannandrea, L., Renieri, A., Annessi, M. (2021). Fostering Students’ Problem-Solving Skills
Through Educational Robotics in Primary School. In: Malvezzi, M., Alimisis, D., Moro, M. (eds) Education in &
with Robotics to Foster 21st-Century Skills. EDUROBOTICS 2021. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol
982. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77022-8_1

South African Studies

Critique

Tshidi, M., & Dewa, A. The promise and peril of Coding & Robotics education in South Africa: A scoping
review of teacher preparation and generative artificial intelligence’s potential for delivering equity.

Hudin, S. S. (2023). A Systematic Review of the Challenges in Teaching Programming for Primary Schools’
Students. Online Journal for TVET Practitioners, 8(1), 75-88.

Advocacy for Robotics and Coding Training-Benefits

Sapounidis, Tselegkaridis, Stamovlasis. (2023). Educational robotics and STEM in primary
education: a review and a meta-analysis

A wide range of relevant activities and interventions, from kindergarten to high school, are
carried out emphasizing their potential benefits, in relation to traditional curriculum, while
skepticism also appears among researchers and specialists. To highlight issues on this matter,
this paper presents a lucid and systematic literature review exploring the effects and
characteristics of ER research from 21 papers The finding showed that most of the related
studies are non-experimental with limited duration, and more effort is needed to apply these
technologies in less traditional domains like language learning or history. The meta-analysis
showed that ER and STEM have a positive impact on knowledge, skills, and attitudes, while
students’ skills proved to have benefited the most from the use of these technologies.

Add to Col

Journal of Research on Technology in Education

EL-Hamamsy, Nondada (2021)Exploring a Handwriting Programming Language for Educational

Robots. Robotics in Education

Catlin, D. (2019). Beyond coding: back to the future with education robots. Smart Learning with
Educational Robotics: Using Robots to Scaffold Learning Outcomes, 1-41.

Panek, S. (2024). Benefits of Coding in the Elementary Classroom.

Mokonyane-Motha, M. M., & De Jager, T. T. (2023). The Significance of Training Student-Teacher Lecturers
in Pedagogical Robotic and Coding Skills. International Journal of Social Science Research and
Review, 6(12), 107-118.

Experiences of teachers in professional development in teaching coding

Petersen, Z. (2020). Primary school teachers’ experiences of professional development in teaching
coding (Doctoral dissertation, Cape Peninsula University of Technology).

Practice—Teaching Aids

Lin, V., & Shaer, O. (2016, May). Beyond the lab: Using technology toys to engage South African youth in
computational thinking. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 655-661).

Rich, P. J., Bartholomew, S., Daniel, D., Dinsmoor, K., Nielsen, M., Reynolds, C., ... & Yauney, J. (2024).
Trends in tools used to teach computational thinking through elementary coding. Journal of research on
technology in education, 56(3), 269-290.

Bezuidenhout, H. S. (2021). An early grade science, technology, engineering and mathematics dialogue
reading programme: The development of a conceptual framework. South African Journal of Childhood
Education, 11(1), 1-10.

Kunene, N., & Havenga, M. (2024). Coding and computational thinking: Foundation Phase mathematics
students’ experiences and reflections. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 26(1).

Mathebula, S., Ramaila, S., & Mavuru, L. (2024). Utilizing Robotics to Foster Twenty-First-Century Skills and
Competencies in Grade 5 Natural Sciences Classrooms. International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and
Society, 20(2), 85.

Shipepe, A., Uwu-Khaeb, L., De Villiers, C., Jormanainen, I., & Sutinen, E. (2022). Co-learning computational
and design thinking using educational robotics: A case of primary school learners in
Namibia. Sensors, 22(21), 8169.

Evidence of practice

Turan, S., & Aydoğdu, F. (2020). Effect of coding and robotic education on pre-school children’s skills of
scientific process. Education and Information Technologies, 25(5), 4353-4363.
Perceptions

Mashuvhamele, D. M. (2022). Foundation Phase teachers’ perceptions on the use of English for their
training of coding and robotics in township schools (Doctoral dissertation, University of Johannesburg).

Hughes,Dieker., Glavey, Hines.,Wilkins,Ingraham, Bukaty.,Ali, Shah., Murphy, Taylor. (2022).

RAISE: Robotics & AI to improve STEM and social skills for elementary school students. Frontiers in Virtual
Reality

The case of prospective teachers’ integration of coding-robotics practices into science

teaching with STEM approach. İlköğretim Online

Practice In South Africa

Maqoqa. (2024).The Influence of Creative Coding, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence on

Educational Practices: Teachers’ Perspectives

E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Yusof, M. M., Jalil, H. A., & Perumal, T. (2021). Exploring Teachers’ Practices in Teaching
Robotics Programming in Primary School. Asian Social Science, 17(11), 122.

Havenga, M., & Jordaan, T. (2023, April). Introducing Coding and Robotics: Prospective Mathematics
Teachers’ Metacognitive Thinking in Scratch. In International Conference on Robotics in Education
(RiE) (pp. 17-26). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Gorrah, A. (2024). Implementation of Coding and Robotics in South African Public Schools, Fostering
Teachers' Self-Directed Learning: A Scoping Review. Navigating Computer Science Education in the 21st
Century, 241-260.
Greyling, J. (2023). Coding unplugged—a guide to introducing coding and robotics to South African
schools. Transforming entrepreneurship education: Interdisciplinary insights on innovative methods and
formats, 155-174.

Baloyi, K., Batchelor, J. (2022). Future-Proofing Teacher Education: Voices from South Africa and Beyond

Doucet, A., Evers, J., Guerra, E., Lopez, N., Soskil, M., Timmers, K. Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
Standing at the precipice
(2018) Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Standing at the Precipice, pp. 1- 191
http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/book/10.4324/9781351035866, ISBN: 978-135103585-9; 978-113848324-
8, doi: 10.4324/9781351035866

Jaipal-Jamani, K., Angeli, C. Effect of Robotics on Elementary Preservice Teachers Self Efficacy , Science
learning and Computational Thinking (2017) Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26 (2), pp. 175-
192. Cited 165 times.
http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1059-0145, doi: 10.1007/s10956-016-9663-z

Hill, Roger B. (2019). "Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education First International
Conference, TECH-EDU 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece, June 20–22, 2018, Revised Selected Papers Robotics
and Coding in Primary Grades". Communications in Computer and Information Science (1865-0929), 993 ,
p. 458.

Topali, P., & Mikropoulos, T. A. (2019). Digital learning objects for teaching computer programming in
primary students. In Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education: First International
Conference, TECH-EDU 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece, June 20–22, 2018, Revised Selected Papers 1 (pp. 256-
266). Springer International Publishing.

Shafie, H., Majid, F.A., Ismail, I.S. (2019). Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in teaching
21st century skills in the 21st century classroom. Asian Journal of University Education, 15 (3), pp. 24-33.
https://education.uitm.edu.my/ajue/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/MEDC-3.-Hidayu_Shafie_et_al.pdf
Gülfem Muslu Kaygisiz, Özlem Ü zümcü F Melile Ucar. The case of prospective teachers’ integration of
coding-robotics practices into science teaching with STEM approach. Elementary Education Online, 19 ( 3),
pp 1200 – 12132020, https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2020.728020

Mishra, P., Koehler, M.J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher
knowledge,
(2006) Teachers College Record, 108 (6), pp. 1017-1054, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x

Mason, S.L., Rich, P.J. Preparing elementary school teachers to teach computing, coding, and
computational thinking
(2019) Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 19 (4), pp. 790-824.

Catlin, D., Blamires, M. The principles of educational robotic applications (ERA): A framework for
understanding and developing educational robots and their activities. (2010) Constructionism 2010:
Constructionist approaches to creative learning, thinking and education: Lessons for the 21st century.
Proceedings for Constructionism 2010: The 12th EuroLogo Conference, Paris, France.

Altin, H., & Pedaste, M. (2013).Learning approaches to applying robotics in science education. Journal of
Baltic Science Education, 12(3), 365-377.

Benitti, F. B. V. (2012). Exploring the educational potential of robotics in schools: A systematic review.
Computers & Education, 58(3), 978-988.

Bers, M. U., Flannery, L., Kazakoff, E. R., & Sullivan, A. (2014). Computational thinking and tinkering:
Exploration of an early childhood robotics curriculum. Computers & Education, 72, 145-157.

Muşlu Kaygısız, G., Üzümcü, Ö., & Uçar, F. M. (n.d.). The case of prospective teachers’ integration of
coding-robotics practices into science teaching with STEM approach. İlköğretim Online1200-1213.
https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2020.728020

Çömek, A., & Avcı, B. (2016). Teachers' opinions about robotic practices in science education. International
Congress on New Trends in Higher Education: Adapting to Change. p.96