Programming of an educational robot to be applied in STEAM areas

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáThe world is increasingly digital. Countries around the world strive to attract and prepare future generations to occupy the positions, where, for the most part, they will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). An approach already consolidated in the literature is the use of robots applied in education to encourage students to develop essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and computational thinking. This work, linked to the RoboSTEAM project, aims to explore educational robots that can be applied in this context, considering that most approaches use LEGO’s platform, which can sometimes be difficult to access due to its high price. The robot used was the mBot in which it uses the mBlock 5 software to program it, from the MakeBlock Co. Ltd. company, being applied in two educational approaches during the execution of the project in which it is based on challenge based-learning methodology. A methodology for adding sensors to the mBot has been also explored. Finally, evaluations were made about the performance of students who participated in this project