Teacher Perceptions of Using Robots to Teach Neuroscience in Secondary School

Abstract

Abstract The use of robots to help teachers to engage students in STEM subjects has been increasing in recent years, and much progress has been made in K12 schools to incorporate robots in the pedagogy. Recent studies indicate that robots can play a significant role to engage students in neuroscience subjects, but little is known about teachers’ perceptions of using robots to teach neuroscience. In this paper, we present a study based on a survey questionnaire conducted with 84 teachers across multiple high schools in the United States to understand their perceptions about the usefulness of using robots to teach neuroscience. To situate teachers with an example of how robots can be used in neuroscience classrooms, we describe an educational tool called the SpikerBot. Our preliminary results indicate that there is an opportunity for neuroscience-oriented robots in secondary education, provided sufficient on-boarding and training videos.