Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones

Farha Sattar; Muhammad Nawaz

doi:10.1109/EDUCON54358.2023.10125117

Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones

Farha Sattar, Muhammad Nawaz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper published in Proceedings › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education are focused on developing problem-solving skills and computational thinking and empowering students with the STEM discipline's knowledge to solve real-world problems. STEM incorporates an interdisciplinary approach that includes inquiry, analysis, critical thinking, practical experimentation, and cooperative problem-solving. Technological advancements are offering new ways to integrate new tools such as drones, robotics and gaming in teaching and learning practices and modify the pedagogical approaches that are more appealing and engaging. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach and practice that integrate drone technology and block-based programming to foster students' computation thinking in a STEM context. The block-based visual programming languages provide an interactive environment to connect the blocks and write programs. The study was conducted in six Australian schools. Students were assigned projects to automate drones using the DroneBlocks app and make programs to fly the drone in different geometrical patterns; straight line, arch, rectangle, triangles and zig-zag and integrate the various manoeuvres; bounce, 8D flips, and throw & go along flight paths. Students' computational thinking development was examined with an emphasis on their performance in formulating and problem-solving. Results have shown that integrated drone and programming pedagogy contributed significantly to students' learning of developing computational thinking for problem-solving and decomposing a problem into smaller parts in a sequence that includes mathematical algorithms to write programs.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	EDUCON 2023 - IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, Proceedings
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
Pages	1-5
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Electronic)	9798350399431
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON54358.2023.10125117
Publication status	Published - 22 May 2023
Event	14th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2023 - Salmiya, Kuwait Duration: 1 May 2023 → 4 May 2023

Publication series

Name	IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON
Volume	2023-May
ISSN (Print)	2165-9559
ISSN (Electronic)	2165-9567

Conference

Conference	14th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2023
Country/Territory	Kuwait
City	Salmiya
Period	1/05/23 → 4/05/23

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research project was funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), Charles Darwin University, Australia and had approvals from the Department of Defence, Australian Government, Department of Education, Northern Territory, Australia. The project had ethics clearance from the Ethics Committee of Charles Darwin University, Australia.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.

Access to Document

10.1109/EDUCON54358.2023.10125117

Cite this

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title = "Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones",

abstract = "Recent trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education are focused on developing problem-solving skills and computational thinking and empowering students with the STEM discipline's knowledge to solve real-world problems. STEM incorporates an interdisciplinary approach that includes inquiry, analysis, critical thinking, practical experimentation, and cooperative problem-solving. Technological advancements are offering new ways to integrate new tools such as drones, robotics and gaming in teaching and learning practices and modify the pedagogical approaches that are more appealing and engaging. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach and practice that integrate drone technology and block-based programming to foster students' computation thinking in a STEM context. The block-based visual programming languages provide an interactive environment to connect the blocks and write programs. The study was conducted in six Australian schools. Students were assigned projects to automate drones using the DroneBlocks app and make programs to fly the drone in different geometrical patterns; straight line, arch, rectangle, triangles and zig-zag and integrate the various manoeuvres; bounce, 8D flips, and throw & go along flight paths. Students' computational thinking development was examined with an emphasis on their performance in formulating and problem-solving. Results have shown that integrated drone and programming pedagogy contributed significantly to students' learning of developing computational thinking for problem-solving and decomposing a problem into smaller parts in a sequence that includes mathematical algorithms to write programs.",

keywords = "Block-based Programming, Coding, Computational Thinking, Drone Technology, Tello Edu Drones",

author = "Farha Sattar and Muhammad Nawaz",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research project was funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), Charles Darwin University, Australia and had approvals from the Department of Defence, Australian Government, Department of Education, Northern Territory, Australia. The project had ethics clearance from the Ethics Committee of Charles Darwin University, Australia. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 IEEE.; 14th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2023 ; Conference date: 01-05-2023 Through 04-05-2023",

year = "2023",

month = may,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1109/EDUCON54358.2023.10125117",

language = "English",

series = "IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON",

publisher = "IEEE Computer Society",

pages = "1--5",

booktitle = "EDUCON 2023 - IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, Proceedings",

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Sattar, F & Nawaz, M 2023, Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones. in EDUCON 2023 - IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, Proceedings. IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON, vol. 2023-May, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 1-5, 14th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2023, Salmiya, Kuwait, 1/05/23. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON54358.2023.10125117

Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones. / Sattar, Farha; Nawaz, Muhammad.
EDUCON 2023 - IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, Proceedings. IEEE Computer Society, 2023. p. 1-5 (IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON; Vol. 2023-May).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper published in Proceedings › peer-review

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N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research project was funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), Charles Darwin University, Australia and had approvals from the Department of Defence, Australian Government, Department of Education, Northern Territory, Australia. The project had ethics clearance from the Ethics Committee of Charles Darwin University, Australia. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 IEEE.

PY - 2023/5/22

Y1 - 2023/5/22

N2 - Recent trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education are focused on developing problem-solving skills and computational thinking and empowering students with the STEM discipline's knowledge to solve real-world problems. STEM incorporates an interdisciplinary approach that includes inquiry, analysis, critical thinking, practical experimentation, and cooperative problem-solving. Technological advancements are offering new ways to integrate new tools such as drones, robotics and gaming in teaching and learning practices and modify the pedagogical approaches that are more appealing and engaging. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach and practice that integrate drone technology and block-based programming to foster students' computation thinking in a STEM context. The block-based visual programming languages provide an interactive environment to connect the blocks and write programs. The study was conducted in six Australian schools. Students were assigned projects to automate drones using the DroneBlocks app and make programs to fly the drone in different geometrical patterns; straight line, arch, rectangle, triangles and zig-zag and integrate the various manoeuvres; bounce, 8D flips, and throw & go along flight paths. Students' computational thinking development was examined with an emphasis on their performance in formulating and problem-solving. Results have shown that integrated drone and programming pedagogy contributed significantly to students' learning of developing computational thinking for problem-solving and decomposing a problem into smaller parts in a sequence that includes mathematical algorithms to write programs.

AB - Recent trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education are focused on developing problem-solving skills and computational thinking and empowering students with the STEM discipline's knowledge to solve real-world problems. STEM incorporates an interdisciplinary approach that includes inquiry, analysis, critical thinking, practical experimentation, and cooperative problem-solving. Technological advancements are offering new ways to integrate new tools such as drones, robotics and gaming in teaching and learning practices and modify the pedagogical approaches that are more appealing and engaging. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach and practice that integrate drone technology and block-based programming to foster students' computation thinking in a STEM context. The block-based visual programming languages provide an interactive environment to connect the blocks and write programs. The study was conducted in six Australian schools. Students were assigned projects to automate drones using the DroneBlocks app and make programs to fly the drone in different geometrical patterns; straight line, arch, rectangle, triangles and zig-zag and integrate the various manoeuvres; bounce, 8D flips, and throw & go along flight paths. Students' computational thinking development was examined with an emphasis on their performance in formulating and problem-solving. Results have shown that integrated drone and programming pedagogy contributed significantly to students' learning of developing computational thinking for problem-solving and decomposing a problem into smaller parts in a sequence that includes mathematical algorithms to write programs.

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Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

DBELaSTEM: Drone-Based Experiential Learning and STEM Education

Cite this

Developing Computational Thinking in STEM Education with Drones

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

DBELaSTEM: Drone-Based Experiential Learning and STEM Education

Cite this