Kindergarten assistive robotics (KAR) as a tool for spatial cognition development in pre-school education

G. Keren*, A. Ben-David, M. Fridin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Kindergarten Assistive Robotics (KAR) is an innovative tool that promotes children's development through social interaction. This study describes how KAR assists kindergarten educational staff in the teaching geometrical thinking, one of the aspects of spatial cognition by engaging the children in play-like interaction. Children's reactions and performance were video-recorded for analysis. Most children exhibited positive interaction with the robot and demonstrated a high level of enjoyment when interacting with it. Our results show that the children's performances on a spatial task were improved while they 'played' with robot. To measure children's learning we developed a novel measure of cognitive learning, which we call 'velocity of learning'. This study demonstrates the feasibility and expected benefit of incorporating KAR in pre-school education.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2012
Pages1084-1089
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event25th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Systems, IROS 2012 - Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal
Duration: 7 Oct 201212 Oct 2012

Publication series

NameIEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
ISSN (Print)2153-0858
ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

Conference

Conference25th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Systems, IROS 2012
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityVilamoura, Algarve
Period7/10/1212/10/12

Keywords

  • development of visual-motor skills
  • geometrical thinking
  • social assistive robotics

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