The Robotics Social Club Program
The Robotics Social Club is an inclusive school-based program that can be held after school or during lunchtimes. Through weekly team challenges using LEGO® Robotics resources, the club aims to create opportunities for all students, including students with autism spectrum conditions, to learn social skills, make friends and socialise with peers over a common interest, and enhance their sense of engagement and belonging at school. The Club utilises students’ strengths and interests in technology within inclusive school-based settings and integrates professional learning for teachers as part of the program. The program is expected to facilitate optimal outcomes for students and the generalisation of skills to the classroom and broader school context.
Students in the Robotics Club progress through Beginning, Developing, and Culminating Phases of the program over 11 to 18 sessions (ideally 1.25 – 1.5 hour sessions held weekly; the program can be split over terms). Teams of approximately three students will be given a robotics challenge each session with the goal of building and programming a LEGO® robot to complete the challenge, and demonstrating one of the Personal and Social Capabilities identified in the Australian Curriculum. The program has been designed to allow for flexibility, to ensure schools and teachers can tailor the content and focus of sessions to meet their students’ particular needs. Upon completion of the Culminating Phase, the Robotics Club teacher(s) and students will be ready to continue to run the Club independently once per week with a less structured focus, gaining ideas from the Robotics Club website and allowing students to research and/or create additional robotics challenges.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Robotics Social Club aims to provide an opportunity for all students, including students with ASD, to experience social situations with their peers in a fun environment, using their common interests and strengths to learn social skills, form friendships, and enhance their motivation and engagement in school.
The standard structure of sessions involves explicit teaching, planning, practice, monitoring, and evaluation of students’ demonstration of the Social Management skills within the Personal and Social Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016). The focus on robotics encourages students’ interest and engagement, while also learning skills from the Technologies curriculum.
The focus on the Personal and Social Capabilities and the positive social interaction between students with ASD and their peers during the Robotics Social Club sessions aims to: a) support their ability to apply social skills, b) build lasting friendship networks, and c) increase their motivation and engagement, within the classroom and broader school context.
Research has shown that students who participated in the Robotics Social Club generally increased their social connections and relationships; were protected against drops in motivation and engagement, and even improved in some aspects such as self-belief; showed some improvements in their social communication deficits; and qualitative reflections indicate improvements in teamwork skills, confidence, resilience, technological and problem-solving skills, and engagement.
Given the importance of the early high school years for students’ social wellbeing and friendships, and developing positive school engagement (e.g. Bauminger & Shulman, 2003), students in Years 7 and 8 (12-14 years of age) are expected to benefit most from the Robotics Social Club program. Therefore, this resource focuses on this age group.
After completing the three phases of the program over 11 to 18 sessions, schools are equipped to continue implementing the Robotics Social Club in a way that best suits their students’ and teachers’ learning needs.
Teacher Professional Learning Outcomes
Essential to this program is the opportunity for teacher professional learning with a focus on both: a) identifying and meeting the needs of students with ASD, and the pedagogical practices that support student learning of the Personal and Social Capabilities, and b) knowledge, competence and confidence with robotics, programming/coding and technology.
Research has shown that teachers who participated in the Robotics Social Club as lead or supporting facilitators, report increased knowledge of the Personal and Social Capabilities, and of robotics and technology; increased knowledge of effective pedagogical practices, and individual students’ needs; and the ability to transfer these skills to settings outside the Robotics Club, such as their classroom and the playground.
The Teacher Professional Learning page provides contacts, links, further resources, and a collaborative space to support facilitating teachers’ professional learning with regard to implementing a Robotics Social Club, as well as the broader areas of robotics and technology, and supporting students with ASD. This page also provides suggested options for professional learning models and processes to encourage transfer of professional learning to other teachers in your school, and to teachers’ classroom practice. Suggestions are provided to allow schools to tailor their professional learning to their own school culture and needs.
Australian Curriculum Content
The Robotics Social Club program directly links to the Australian Curriculum: Technologies, and the General Capabilities: Personal and Social Capability of the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016). The links to these curriculum areas are described below.
Digital Technologies
All students will learn concepts from the Digital Technologies curriculum, such as using the Digital Technologies process (Define, Design, Implement and Evaluate) as well as programming skills such as Branching and Iteration.
Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students distinguish between different types of networks and defined purposes. They explain how text, image and audio data can be represented, secured and presented in digital systems.
Students plan and manage digital projects to create interactive information. They define and decompose problems in terms of functional requirements and constraints. Students design user experiences and algorithms incorporating branching and iterations, and test, modify and implement digital solutions. They evaluate information systems and their solutions in terms of meeting needs, innovation and sustainability. They analyse and evaluate data from a range of sources to model and create solutions. They use appropriate protocols when communicating and collaborating online (ACARA, 2016).
For further detail, see the full Digital Technologies curriculum.
Design and Technologies
All students will learn concepts from the Design and Technologies curriculum, such as using the Design and Technologies process – Define (Ask), Design (Plan), Produce (Create), Evaluate, and Improve (see Robot Design Process, PDF 296 KB, Word 25 KB). Students will also focus on the technologies contexts of: Engineering principles and systems; and Materials and technologies specialisations.
Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students explain factors that influence the design of products, services and environments to meet present and future needs. They explain the contribution of design and technology innovations and enterprise to society. Students explain how the features of technologies impact on designed solutions and influence design decisions for each of the prescribed technologies contexts.
Students create designed solutions for each of the prescribed technologies contexts based on an evaluation of needs or opportunities. They develop criteria for success, including sustainability considerations, and use these to judge the suitability of their ideas and designed solutions and processes. They create and adapt design ideas, make considered decisions and communicate to different audiences using appropriate technical terms and a range of technologies and graphical representation techniques. Students apply project management skills to document and use project plans to manage production processes. They independently and safely produce effective designed solutions for the intended purpose. (ACARA, 2016).
For further detail, see the full Design and Technologies curriculum.
Personal and Social Capability
The major focus of the Robotics Social Club is supporting teachers to embed the Personal and Social Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016) within their teaching practice, and for students to have some targeted teaching of these skills. The Personal and Social Capability Continuum (PDF 201 KB, Word 31 KB) describes typical milestones for all students by the end of Foundation, Year 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. The Robotics Social Club focuses on the Year 6 to Year 8 milestones, and specifically the five Social Management skills (see diagram below). The Robotics Social Club aims to explicitly teach age appropriate social skills and importantly give students the opportunity to practice and demonstrate them within the school setting.
Social Management
This element involves students interacting effectively and respectfully with a range of adults and peers.
Students learn to negotiate and communicate effectively with others; work in teams, positively contribute to groups and collaboratively make decisions; resolve conflict and reach positive outcomes. They develop the ability to initiate and manage successful personal relationships, and participate in a range of social and communal activities. Social management involves building skills associated with leadership, such as mentoring and role modelling (ACARA, 2016).
For further detail, see the full Personal and Social Capability curriculum.
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