AN APPROACHE TO THE STUDY OF SCIENCE FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Abstract

In the past years there has been noticed a certain decrease in the number of students that choose science as their subject of study for a university degree. One of the main reasons generating this climate is the extent to which this subject is made accessible to children at an early age. As long as school curricula restrict the pupil’s time and opportunity to study preferred subjects more in-depth, developing a field of interest is a difficult step. Some schools have taken action in this perspective and got involved in a number of activities on different topics or have completely reconfigured their curricula to allow time for the introduction of a set of optional courses. Moreover, pupils at schools that have not implemented such programmes have the opportunity to subscribe for a summer course. That is what stimulated us to organise a summer activity in the form of a computer science and engineering course, which promised to deliver a unique blend of skills including computer programming, robotics, numeracy, teamwork, communication and practice of the English language. This document will explain the structure of a robotics course designed for young learners. Potential content for the course is revealed and points on how to deliver the activity are provided.

Key words: programming, robotics, training, young learners

SCS_13_2009_18