Invite students to design costumes and narratives for their robots as legitimate epistemic engagement¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The authors made an intentional design choice to have students customize robot exteriors and craft meaningful stories, which "positioned aesthetic, narrative, and expressive forms of engagement as legitimate alongside technical programming work." Designing costumes prompted students to reason about robot structure, weight, placement, and mobility as functional constraints, and public presentation let them personify their robots through narrative.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A design challenge with room for aesthetic customization without blocking sensors or wheels
• an authentic audience such as a Celebration of Learning Event

Constraints¶

• Costume weight and placement can hinder robot motion, so iteration is needed

Target Learners¶

• high school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• robot structure
• motion planning
• connecting computing to personal interests

Affordances¶

• Epistemological Pluralism Robotics Pathways

Related Strategies¶

• Racial Equity in PBL - Listen to the Voices of Students
• Digital Storytelling
• Interactive Storytelling

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• G. McLaughlin, E. Novak, S. Ahmadi, J. Li, Y. Guo, R. Liu, & L. Borgerding. (2026). Pathways to learning: exploring high school students' learning of AI-powered educational robotics. Education Tech Research Dev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-026-10651-w