An exploration of robot programming as a foundation for spatial reasoning and computational thinking in preschoolers’ guided play

Early evidence suggests that robot programming offers an important foundation for spatial reasoning and computational thinking; however, researchers have debated how to introduce young children to these skills. We explored how preschoolers develop understanding of spatial concepts and computational thinking as the children took turns navigating a path during guided play with a programmable robot. Our analysis of the data included a multimodal visualization of the exchanges between the teacher, children, and a programmable robotic device. The findings highlight the effects that arose from the physical-digital convergence of technology integrated into play including: (a) the robot evoked a chain of actions, enacting pedagogic forces that transformed children's learning; (b) children used their own bodies as spatial referents, co-locating themselves in space with the robot; (c) the teacher remained a key actor, providing verbal and nonverbal scaffolding to promote children's understanding and mastery of spatial and computational concepts; and (d) talking with the teacher about spatial concepts combined with the interactions with the robot enhanced children's acquisition of spatial ideas relative to the quantity of children's verbal expressions and complexity of their applied spatial skills and computational thinking.