Development of Educational Robotics Activities for Secondary School Students to Promote Interest in Engineering Career Path

Abstract

There is currently low interest in STEM subjects at secondary schools which leads to low interest in STEM career path in Kenya. Secondary schools have a great role in preparing learners for career progression through the subjects they teach and career guidance. In order for any country to meet the ever increasing need for a STEM related workforce, more learners should be motivated to pursue careers in STEM. Educational Robotics have been recognized to be vital teaching tools for practical learning about STEM topics in general. However, not enough attention has been paid to the development of robotics activities and their suitability for integration in Physics and Mathematics subjects. In this study robotic activities are developed which expose learners to many opportunities of enriching learning of Physics and Mathematics. The activities developed were then implemented through a 3-day workshop held at Murang’a University of Technology in Kenya for students and teachers in Physics and Mathematics. The activities were developed in a systematic manner and adopted an Active learning model. In order to assess the suitability, relevance and the impact of the developed activities to learning of Physics and Mathematics, 192 form 2 students and 10 teachers from Kangema Sub-County, Murang’a County in Kenya were selected purposefully. A questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect data from students and teachers respectively. From analysis of the data collected it was concluded that the activities were suitable and made learning of Physics and Mathematics fun and consequently improved learners interest to the subjects and their participation in class. The developed activities can therefore be integrated into the Physics and Mathematics curriculum for either in-class sessions or after-school sessions.