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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1425307
This article is part of the Research Topic Mathematical Thinking, Practices, and Processes in Non-formal Learning Environments View all 6 articles

Elementary Students' Shared Understanding of Angle during an Educational Robotics Task

Provisionally accepted
Amber Simpson Amber Simpson 1*Ekta Shokeen Ekta Shokeen 2Nihal Katirci Nihal Katirci 2Caro Williams-Pierce Caro Williams-Pierce 2
  • 1 Binghamton University, Binghamton, United States
  • 2 University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Prior research has documented students' struggles in conceiving of angle and angle measurement, which may stem from textbook and curriculum representations of angles as static. In this study, we examined grade 3-5 students' mathematical thinking of angle during an educational robotics task implemented within a making space learning environment in a school setting (i.e., hybrid making space). Our analysis included 19 video recordings of six groups of students. Results from this study demonstrate how students negotiated a shared understanding of angle through multiple epistemic tools (e.g., gestures, bodily actions, language) that were situated and contextualized within the task. This included developing a shared language, conceptualizing angle as a dynamic entity, and perceiving angle through directionality and degree measures. We contend that learning experiences within a hybrid making space provide young students with opportunities to engage in mathematics as a social phenomenon and human activity.

    Keywords: angle, Educational Robotics, epistemic tools, Joint Labor, Making space

    Received: 29 Apr 2024; Accepted: 19 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Simpson, Shokeen, Katirci and Williams-Pierce. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amber Simpson, Binghamton University, Binghamton, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.