NRI: Liquid Handling Robots - A New Paradigm for STEM Education

NRI：液体处理机器人——STEM 教育的新范式

• 批准号: 2032359
• 负责人: Paulo Blikstein
• 金额: $ 2.42万
• 依托单位: Teachers College, Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-01 至 2020-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2032359&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NRI; Liquid; Handling; Robots; New

This National Robotics Initiative project will test a series of liquid handling robots in school biology and chemistry classes to determine the range of learning opportunities that can be supported through the instructional use of collaborative robots. Low-cost robots using the Lego Mindstorms platform will be used to implement classroom activities ranging from artistic expression using colorful arrangements of liquids to performing experiments using dilution series, density gradients, and spectral measurements. The aim is to make biotechnology more tangible and relevant to students while supporting interdisciplinary learning as recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This innovative approach to engaging students in biology and chemistry will be tested with teachers and students in grades 6-12, with a range of user studies being employed to examine learning outcomes and guide the development process. The goal is to integrate liquid handling into educational robotics to enhance current science curricula by enabling deeper inquiry, more variety in learning experiences, and increased attention to interdisciplinary and project-based education.The research of this project will focus on two themes: students' sense making as they engage in inquiry activities using the platform, and the pedagogical and infrastructural support needed for sustainable deployment and implementation. Multimodal data collected from students running experiments will be combined with traditional qualitative and quantitative methods to answer three primary questions related to the two research themes: 1) How effectively does the system capture the practices and inquiry activities of real scientists using similar tools? 2) How do the affordances identified by the first question map onto the learning goals of engaging in extended inquiry cycles within the context of limited amounts of time available to 6-12 grade science teachers? And 3) What implementation challenges are associated with our proposed curricular distribution model which relies on software and instructions being downloaded and fabricated in local Makerspaces or Lego/Arduino kits being used in schools? The research plan for the project will progress over three years from Microgenetic design and testing during the first year to controlled study of in-class effectiveness during year 2. In the final year of the project, teacher-led in-class effectiveness will be examined.

该国家机器人计划项目将测试学校生物学和化学课程中的一系列液体处理机器人，以确定可以通过协作机器人的教学使用来支持的学习机会范围。 使用LEGO Mindstorms平台的低成本机器人将用于实施课堂活动，从使用液体的彩色布置到使用稀释系列，密度梯度和光谱测量的艺术表达等。目的是使生物技术与学生更加有形和相关，同时按照下一代科学标准（NGSS）的建议支持跨学科学习。这种使学生参与生物学和化学的创新方法将与6 - 12年级的教师和学生进行测试，并采用了一系列用户研究来检查学习成果并指导发展过程。 目的是将液体处理整合到教育机器人技术中，以通过更深入的询问，更多的学习经验来增强当前的科学课程，并增加对跨学科和基于项目的教育的关注。对该项目的研究将重点介绍两个主题：学生在使用平台进行询问的学生的意义上，以使用该平台进行询问，并实现秘密和基础的支持和实施。 从运行实验的学生那里收集的多模式数据将与传统的定性和定量方法相结合，以回答与两个研究主题有关的三个主要问题：1）系统如何有效地使用类似工具来有效地捕获真正的科学家的实践和查询活动？ 2）如何在6至12年级的科学教师可用的时间有限的时间内进行第一个问题映射确定的负担到进行扩展查询周期的学习目标？ 3）与我们提出的课程分配模型相关联的实施挑战，该模型依赖于在当地制造商中下载和制造的软件和指令，或者在学校使用的乐高/arduino套件？ 该项目的研究计划将在第一年的微源设计和测试中进行三年的发展，再到第二年的课堂上有效性研究。在项目的最后一年，将检查教师主导的课堂上有效性。