Exploring Preservice Teachers' Attitudes About the Usage of Educational Robotics in Preschool Education

Educational robotics have become popular worldwide with a broad range of students, including preschoolers. Although the impact of robotics technology in classrooms has been extensively studied, less is known about preschool teachers' perceptions of how robotics technology impacts learning and its relation to use in the classroom. This is problematic since we know that teachers' perceptions have a great influence on their teaching practices. This study used survey data gathered from 102 students of the Department of Preschool Education in a University in Greece. A questionnaire developed by the researchers were used as data collection tool. At the end of the study, it was determined that preservice preschool teachers' attitudes about educational robotics usage in preschool classrooms were positive although they lack in relevant knowledge. These findings are discussed with respect to their educational implications.

Examining Additive and Synergistic Relations Between Preschool Self-Regulation and Executive Function Skills: Predictions to Academic Outcomes

In the present study, we examined the extent to which teacher-rated self-regulation and directly assessed executive function skills were independently, additively, or synergistically related to academic achievement during the transition to kindergarten. The sample included 126 children (42% female; Mage = 4.73 years) from families with low incomes who participated in a larger evaluation of state-funded preschool. Regression models with children nested in their respective preschool classrooms investigated main effects and moderated effects of teacher-rated self-regulation skills manifested in preschool classroom behaviors and cognitive executive function skills assessed through direct assessments on math, literacy, and vocabulary in the spring of preschool and in the fall of kindergarten. Results revealed independent but not additive relations between executive function and math in the spring of preschool and self-regulation and literacy in the fall of kindergarten. One significant interaction emerged providing evidence for synergistic relations between teacher-rated self-regulation and directly assessed executive function for literacy at both timepoints across the transition to kindergarten. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The Role of Expertise Judgments in Children's Social Learning

Previous research has examined how children judge sources of information (Corriveau & Harris, 2009; Corriveau, Pickard, & Harris, 2010; Koenig & Harris, 2005), but no studies have attempted to increase or decrease a children’s trust in informants, measure learning from that informant, and analyze how that learning persists over time. The current study examined if children’s trust in informants can be manipulated, and how this trust relates to learning STEM concepts from a video of the character in question. Fifty-seven 3- to 6-year-olds were visited in their preschool classrooms at 3 different time points. Children watched a video of Sid from Sid the Science Kid solving a problem. After the video, children were tasked with solving an analogically-similar problem. Children were tested for verbal reasoning, concept formation, visual matching, executive function, character realism, identification with the character, theory of mind, and character trust (belief in Sid’s expertise in problem-solving). Presenting Sid to the participants as either clever or clumsy did not affect character trust or learning. Children’s belief in Sid’s expertise also did not affect learning; however, levels of learning remained stable over time. Identification with Sid may play a role in how children viewed Sid and learned from him.