Emanuela Castro
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piaggio (Italy), Fondazione Stella Maris
Papers
8
Total Citations
466
H-Index
7
About
Emanuela Castro is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of educational robotics, cognitive development, and special education. Her work focuses primarily on how robotic programming activities can strengthen Executive Functions — the higher-order cognitive processes essential for learning — in both typically developing children and those with special educational needs. Castro's landmark 2017 pilot study, now cited over 200 times, established early evidence that educational robotics could meaningfully enhance executive functioning in preschool children, sparking significant interest across developmental psychology and educational technology communities. She has extended this foundational work to include children with Down Syndrome and diverse special needs populations, demonstrating robotics' broad therapeutic and pedagogical potential. Her 2020 randomized controlled trial further solidified these findings among typically developing five- and six-year-olds, lending rigorous empirical weight to the field. Beyond child-focused research, Castro has also investigated how teacher training shapes attitudes toward educational robotics, recognizing that effective implementation depends equally on educator readiness. With a body of work accumulating over 450 citations, Castro has helped transform educational robotics from a primarily STEM-focused tool into a recognized intervention for cognitive empowerment and inclusive education.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Educational Robotics in Down Syndrome: A Feasibility Study62 citations · 2018
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- 7Robot Programming to Empower Higher Cognitive Functions in Early Childhood13 citations · 2019
- 8