Educational Effect of Participation in Robot Competition on Experience-Based Learning

Abstract

In recent years, instructional robot materials have often been used in robotics and engineering education. We use LEGO Mindstorms which is an educational robot development kit in its curriculum. In this subject, students are taught basic subjects such as robot mechanisms, robotic control, and programming. To enhance the subject’s educational effects, the students are set the objective of entry into a robot competition. In the subject, the students are grouped into teams comprising two or three members to undertake the aforementioned task, with the objective of improving their communication skills and problem-solving capacities. The effects of participation in the robot competition were observed in the improved performances in the robot competition implemented in a class (hereinafter called “classroom competition”) held after the SMART competition. In the questionnaire survey conducted at the end of the subject, the upper-class students, in particular, conveyed favorable views on the use of LEGO Mindstorms and participation in the robot competition. On comparing the realized educational effects on the first- and third-year students, positive effects were confirmed in both groups.