IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021 - 92
Robotics Labs and
Other Hands-On
Teaching During
COVID-19
Change Is Here to Stay?
By Andreas Birk and Dora Simunovic
T
he COVID-19 pandemic had profound effects
on almost all aspects of daily life, including
education, where it led to a rapid and massive
switch to online teaching. There is evidence that
the responses to the pandemic will have lasting
effects in higher education and that they have accelerated
the trend that (elements of) online education will be the
new normal in higher education [13]. For example,
students expect, as a main change for universities, that, in
10 years' time, most lectures will be online [18].
But there are disciplines, like educational robotics [1],
[10], [11], [20], [21], where laboratory work, a hands-on
experience, is considered to be essential for education [4].
According to [17], almost all work in educational robotics
refers in one form or another to Papert's theory of constructionism
[7], [12], which stresses the benefits of " learning by
making. " This importance is also highlighted by more recent
educational theories like problem-based learning [2], [14],
[15] as well as project-based learning [5], [9], especially when
used in the context of science, technology, engineering, and
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2021.3102979
Date of current version: 26 August 2021
92 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * DECEMBER 2021
mathematics and, in particular, engineering education [3],
[6], [8], [19]. An obvious question is how COVID-19 affected
robotics teaching. In this discipline, physical presence in
the lab is often considered to be sacrosanct for hands-on
experience. Engineering students, even in distance-education
programs, often are required to come to campus for in-presence
lab sessions [4].
In this article, we provide the results of an international
survey on the effects of COVID-19 on robotics laboratory
courses and other forms of hands-on education in tertiary
robotics education. The goals of this study are to provide an
overview of the way instructors handled the challenges of
COVID-19 in teaching hands-on robotics courses and to
identify possible effects and trends that will also be of relevance
in the future beyond the pandemic. As an important
finding, the study provides indications that, on the one
hand, physical access to equipment in laboratories is considered
to be essential. On the other, the alternative forms of
hands-on teaching during the pandemic led to increased
grade performances, and the instructors report plans to
make the teaching changes permanent. The effects of the
pandemic hence indicate that there may be substantial room
for hands-on education in robotics without the requirement
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IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021
Contents
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021 - Cover1
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IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021 - Contents
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