The effect of robotic education on robotic coding education on mental imagery and robot perception

The primary goal of this study is to investigate the impact of robotic coding education on 4th grade students' mental imagery and robot perception. The implementation process's training phase was scheduled to last 10 weeks and 2 hours per week. The simultaneous mixed method model was used in this study, which combined quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The quantitative dimension of the study was designed in a quasi-experimental model with a control group for pre-test and post-test. A phenomenology study was planned for the qualitative dimension. The research study group consists of 50 students, 26 in the experimental group and 24 in the control group, who are in the fourth grade at a primary school in Düzce during the 2021-2022 academic year. The "Sheveland Mental Image Sharpness Scale" was used to collect data on the students' mental imagery. The Word Association Test was used to collect data on students' perceptions of robots. The students received robotic coding training as part of the 10-week robotics training conducted as part of the research, using the Idea software and the O-bot robot kit. The t-test was used in the quantitative data analysis via the IBM SPSS 20 program, and the ANOVA test was used for repeated measurements. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data; categories and codes were created for the Word Association Test answers. According to the findings of the study, robotic coding education has a positive effect on students' mental imagery and robot perceptions. The difference in mind image imagery between the experimental and control groups was found to be statistically significant in favor of the experimental group. Furthermore, qualitative data show that robotic education has a positive impact on people's perceptions of robots. According to the data obtained following the robotic training, it was determined that an algorithm was required for the robot to function and that the robot was a coded technological tool. They appeared to have begun the programming step. Because robotic coding education supports skills that influence learning processes and shapes robot the mental images, it is recommended that it be taught widely in primary schools. Key words: robotic coding, mental imagery, Idea software, 21.century skills