A Playful Experiential Learning System With Educational Robotics
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 14, 2026

Designing and Implementing Nervous System Simulations on LEGO Robots
Published on: May 25, 2013
Antonella D'Amico1,2,3, Domenico Guastella2, Antonio Chella3,4,5
1Dipartimento di Scienze Psicologiche, Pedagogiche, dell'Esercizio Fisico e della Formazione, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
This article reports on two studies that aimed to evaluate the effective impact of educational robotics in learning concepts related to Physics and Geography. The reported studies involved two courses from an upper secondary school and two courses from a lower secondary school. Upper secondary school classes studied topics of motion physics, and lower secondary school classes explored issues related to geography. In each grade, there was an "experimental group" that carried out their study using robotics and cooperative learning and a "control group" that studied the same concepts without robots. Students in both classes were subjected to tests before and after the robotics laboratory, to check their knowledge in the topics covered. Our initial hypothesis was that classes involving educational robotics and cooperative learning are more effective in improving learning and stimulating the interest and motivation of students. As expected, the results showed that students in the experimental groups had a far better understanding of concepts and higher participation to the activities than students in the control groups.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanical Systems
Electro-mechanical Systems
A key component of the DC motor is the armature, a rotating circuit positioned within a magnetic field. As an electric current passes through the...
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Purposive Learning
Observational Learning

