Perspectives for project-based STE(A)M activities in Early Childhood Education
Keywords:
STEM, STEAM, Early childhood education, Bee-Bot, Project-based instructionsAbstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate project-based and problem-based instruction STE(A)M activities for children aged 4-6 years old in STE(A)M Preschool Classroom Environments. A French film (“Le balloon rouge”, 1956) was the occasion for the creation of an authentic communication framework that encouraged and supported the planning and the development of contextualized STE(A)M activities based on educational robotics and computational thinking. These were referred mainly to mathematical concepts through a problem-based solving process. Students using several materials and strategies tried and attempted to sculpt physical distances among nations and people using digital tools and in particular using the Bee-Bot Robot. The results showed that pre-schoolers enjoyed the use of digital tools and their possibilities corresponding to directional codes. They used mathematical concepts and many non-standard (arbitrary) or conventional measurement units as tools to solve the problem of sculpting the distances. Furthermore, under the appropriate guidance and into an educational robotic context, they managed to make the robot move in a correct and appropriate way after mane repetitions and utilizing the opportunity to construct and reflect on new learning trajectories.
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