Using LEGO Mindstorms in Higher Education: Cognitive Strategies in Programming a Quadruped Robot

Abstract

An Educational Robotics laboratory was organized for 102 students of the Cognitive Psychology course, at the Arts and Humanities Faculty (University of Calabria), to study the cognitive strategies they adopted to create a quadruped robot with the Lego MindStorms kits. Students worked in groups to solve a common task related to building and programming the robot, able to move on four dynamically coordinated limbs, at different speeds. We analyzed the students’ reports, from which we grasped the strategies they adopted to solve the assignment. Moreover, we discussed some common aspects that characterized the teamwork: the problem solving processes, the learning by doing in an enjoyable way, the motivation and the deep interest showed by the subjects in exploring new knowledge, despite their humanistic background. The experiment demonstrates that by combining Edutainment with Robotics it is possible to teach students scientific concepts through objects manipulation, which allows not only to learn with pleasure but also to acquire knowledge of other scientific fields.