Perception of High School Students on the Role of Robotics as a Tool for 21st Century Learning

Abstract

Schools in the Philippines are now implementing robotics subject in their K-12 Curriculum for the students to learn the concepts of programming robots, including St Mary's College Quezon City which started having robotics in SY 2016-2017. Thus, it will be significant to find out the students' perceptions on robotics as a tool for learning. The researchers will use phenomenology as their research design. The research includes purposively chosen informants who have varied experiences in robotics. Three (3) informants have competed in a robotics competition. Three (3) informants have taken the subject but have not competed in a robotics competition. One (1) informant is a teacher of the Robotics subject. A semi-structured interview guide was used to gather relevant data. The informants deem that they had acquired these 21st century skills: a) Critical Thinking; b) Collaboration; c) Creativity; d) Technology Literacy; e) Leadership; f) Social Skills; g) Communication; h) Productivity, through robotics classes. The informants also believe that robotics enhanced their 21st century skills because they are able to use the skills that they develop and acquire in robotics in their daily lives. Struggles include the limited slots in the robotics training program -only for students who excel and meet the standards of having a gold medal in robotics from the previous year. Thus, other students are not able to fully experience the beauty of robotics. The Robotics program was the school’s innovative program to make sure that students are at part with global standards. Based on their feedback, Robotics has helped them improve their 21st century skills and learned something they can apply in their daily lives. However, the school should also consider offering the program to interested students who would like to have the same opportunities as those who have higher skills in robotics.