Official Abstract
VEX Robotics, STEM confidence, and the conditions that help students imagine technical futures.
Shared here as professional and scholarly context. This dissertation was not published as a journal article.
Abstract. The Effects of VEX Robotics Competitions on High School Students' Attitudes Toward STEM, 21st Century Skills, and Interest in STEM Careers. Paul Roland Alfonso Maiquez, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. Keywords: robotics, STEM attitudes, 21st century skills, STEM careers, STEM career interests, competitive robotics, VEX, VRC, VEX EDR, VEX Robotics Competition.
This applied dissertation was designed to study the effects of high school students' participation in VEX Robotics Competitions on their attitudes toward STEM as well as 21st century skills and STEM career interests. STEM-targeted robotics curricular programs and competitions continue to gain interest and popularity in schools. One particular program, VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) that uses the VEX EDR system, is regarded as the largest and fastest-growing global robotics competition. Robotics curricular programs and competitions are generally designed to increase students' STEM awareness and interest through immersion in robot designing and building activities. However, in spite of the popularity and intentions of robotics competitions such as the VRC, there appeared to be very few research studies written on the specific topic of VEX Robotics in STEM education. Furthermore, there is a lack of research conducted on students' attitudes toward STEM in relationship with robotics. An equal lack of research on the specific topic of VEX Robotics and attitudes toward STEM seems to be the case as well.
A study on positive attitudes of students was due in order to gain an understanding of the relevance of robotics competitions such as the VRC. To determine the effects of participation in VRCs on high school students' attitudes toward STEM, students from four schools in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the United States were surveyed using the Student Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (S-STEM). A focus group interview using a smaller sample of students was conducted to clarify and further investigate assumptions and result trends from the survey.
Using a mixed methods concurrent triangulation design — convergent design model, an analysis of the data supported the assertion that high school students who participated in VRCs had generally more positive attitudes toward STEM than high school students who did not participate in such competitions. High school students who participated in VRCs also had greater interest in STEM-related careers than those who did not participate in robotics competitions.
Interestingly, other factors such as gender, age, and years of participation did not have any effect on high school students' attitudes toward STEM and 21st century skills and STEM career interests. Several recommendations were brought to light as there continues to be a need to further investigate how students would be encouraged to join more robotics competitions. There is also a need for coaches, educators, and teachers to be more equipped and trained in encouraging student participation in robotics competitions such as the VRC. With the pressing need for more students to pursue careers in STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics-oriented competitions would help encourage schools, regions, and countries to focus and work on gearing students toward STEM careers as they develop increasing agency in acquiring and applying 21st century skills.
