Towards an Augmented Reality Framework for K-12 Robotics Education

In this paper, we investigate how augmented reality (AR) can help students “see the unseen” when learning to operate and program robots. We describe our prototype AR system for robotics education, along with a qualitative pilot study and its preliminary results. The objectives of the pilot study were 1) demonstrate that AR can be successfully deployed in a middle school robotics education setting; and, 2) identify and document howARmight (or might not) catalyze students’ ability to understand their robot’s behavior and adapt their code accordingly. Overall, the pilot study indicated that AR can help students debug their robot more easily, catalyzing discussions around sensor readings that led to code fixes and a reduction in the “barrier to entry” for some students. At the same time, we also gained some insight into usability issues and current challenges of using AR in the classroom.

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