文章基本信息

标题：The Effect of the FIRST Robotics Program on Its Graduates
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作者：Shahaf Rocker Yoel ; Daphna Shwartz Asher ; Maayan Schohet 等
期刊名称：Robotics
电子版ISSN：2218-6581
出版年度：2020
卷号：9
期号：4
页码：84-100
DOI：10.3390/robotics9040084
出版社：MDPI Publishing
摘要：The program For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) for young students incorporates project-based learning (PBL) with designing and building wireless-controlled robots. The students are guided by experts, mostly engineers. The FIRST organization determines the theme of the robot annual competition. The goal of this research is to characterize and evaluate the effect of the FIRST program on graduates’ self-efficacy, interpersonal skills, and career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The research participants included 297 FIRST graduates, mostly high schoolers, who responded to questionnaires, and five of them were interviewed. Analysis of the data showed that the FIRST program improved graduates’ interpersonal skills such as time management, teamwork skills, and self-efficacy, as well as had an impact on the graduates’ STEM career choices. The main factors impacting the graduates’ career choice was their exposure to robotics and to experts from the industry. The theoretical contribution is to the social cognitive theory (SCT) in the context of the FIRST program. Our study explains students’ career choice through correlations among students’ aspirations for choosing a career, their self-efficacy, their interpersonal skills, and their actual choice. The practical contribution lies in better understanding the robotic PBL program and expanding the STEM work force.
关键词：STEM; project-based learning; self-efficacy; social cognitive theory; interpersonal skills; robotics; FIRST program STEM ; project-based learning ; self-efficacy ; social cognitive theory ; interpersonal skills ; robotics ; FIRST program