Enhancing robotics education through the flipped classroom: A narrative review

Abstract

The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize and interrogate current literature relating to the use of FC in robotics education, pedagogical basis, outcomes and challenges and future trends within STEM disciplines. Robotics education plays a critical role in teaching students 21st century skills, including problem solving, computational thinking and technical hands-on competencies, but many educators still have challenges promoting hands-on learning while also covering complex theoretical lessons. The flipped classroom is growing in popularity as an approach to move teaching time away from traditional lecture and into active, experiential learning, which is at the heart of robotics education. A systematic, but flexible literature review was performed using Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar as leading databases in addition to manual reference screening. We conclude from the review that effectively designed flipped classroom approaches can often be associated with positive effects on student engagement, preparedness and high order learning in robotics education. However, results are mixed and context specific depending on the quality of instructional design quality, student preparedness, test alignment, and technology access. Ongoing gaps are identified in the areas of K-12 and vocational research, longitudinal evidence, and teacher professional development. This review stresses the importance of cohesive pedagogical design and future research to generate an evidence base for implementing flipped classroom strategies in robot education.