Teachers' and learners' use of robotics for teaching and learning

The study investigated the teachers’ and learners' acceptance of the use of robotics in the Intermediate Phase. The researcher purposively sampled nine (9) learners in the Intermediate Phase from the two identified schools. The schools were labelled as School A and School B. Three learners from School A represented Grade 4, three learners from School A represented Grade 5, and the other three learners represented Grade 6 from School B. The data was collected through various data collection strategies. Firstly, the semi-structured interviews were conducted and allowed participants to provide more in-depth knowledge based on their personal experiences. The teacher participants were interviewed individually at their respective classrooms. Secondly, focus group interviews were conducted to gather information from Intermediate Phase learners who may have been hesitant to participate individually due to their age. Focus group interviews allowed learners to build on each other’s ideas and comments, resulting in more detailed perspectives than individual interviews. This collaborative approach also fostered a sense of community among the participants, as they were able to connect with others who shared similar experiences and challenges.Observations were also applied as a data collection strategy. The researcher observed the learners’ behaviours based on their interactions, confidence, and attitudes during the robotics lessons. To fully comprehend the underlying phenomena, teachers were observed in terms of their methodological approach, skills, and knowledge to facilitate their lessons in robotics. The researcher managed to observe the lessons in the natural setting of the participants without interfering with the lessons and also captured pictures using a cell phone camera. This study adopted the thematic analysis to analyse data due to its ability to identify and analyse patterns and themes within the qualitative data collected. After gathering data, it is important to analyse it and look at the differences and similarities so that we can reach conclusions. Hence, content analysis was used to summarise the data collected and draw up conclusions based on the findings.