Teaching Proportions with LEGO robotics in a seventh-grade mathematics class

Presentation given by Georgia Southern faculty member Shelli L. Casler-Failing at AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA.

Conference was cancelled due to covid-19 outbreak.

An action research case study was conducted to investigate the influence of incorporating LEGO robotics into a seventh-grade mathematics curriculum focused on the development of proportional reasoning through the lens of Social Constructivist Theory. This study applied students’ prior knowledge of the distance, rate, and time formula as they gathered and applied information to different iterations, and structures, of the formula. The purposefully designed lessons supported the development of the students’ understanding of the proportionality existing among the variables. The data provides evidence of the development of proportional reasoning skills with the greatest increase being from low-performing students. This research supports the inclusion of robotics as an avenue to promote student engagement and discussion as the students develop their understanding.