Fostering Algorithmic Thinking and Environmental Awareness via Bee-Bot Activities in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

In order to meet the learning demands and challenges of the 21st century, computational thinking (CT) skills are important to start developing in early childhood education. The best way to cultivate CT skills, such as algorithmic thinking, is by implementing multidisciplinary education, introducing state-of-the-art technological tools, and adopting engaging teaching strategies like robotics. Within this context, we introduce a play-based educational framework that is developmentally appropriate for second graders and aims to exercise pupils’ algorithmic thinking amid the Environmental Studies course. Keeping in mind that the early childhood period is crucial in developing environmentally friendly attitudes, intentions, and behaviours, we designed the proposed educational framework not only to cultivate pupils’ algorithmic thinking but environmental awareness too. The main technology exploited was the Bee-Bot, which stimulates children to learn how to solve problems efficiently and imaginatively through playful programming. This article reports a relevant case study conducted in October 2023 in Crete, Greece, adopting a robust ethical framework and being implemented under the umbrella of the qualitative research methodology. Studying the data obtained shows that the pupils embraced the proposed robotics activities, exercised their algorithmic thinking, and cultivated their environmental awareness in a playful, collaborative, and engaging learning environment.

1. Introduction

In recent years, numerous studies have pointed out the potential contribution of robotics to facilitating the educational process, and improving teaching and learning experience [1,2]. Educational Robotics (ER) provides pupils the opportunity to delve into new learning subjects and create knowledge by dealing with authentic problems that people encounter in everyday life or professional practice [3,4]. ER increases pupils’ interest in the educational process, enhances motivation for attaining knowledge, advances learning outcomes [4,5], supports inclusive education and tackles early school leaving [6,7]. It boosts the improvement of critical thinking and creativity [8,9], cultivates team culture, and facilitates pupils to exercise communication and cooperation skills [10,11]. Especially in early educational settings, introducing robotics contributes to establishing fun and stimulating learning environments that enhance pupils’ engagement in the educational process, support the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and encourage pupils to exercise their creativity and collaboration skills [12,13,14].

Moreover, exploiting state-of-the-art technological tools, and developing effective educational practices, like robotics, provide a fertile ground of implementing interdisciplinary education in order to cultivate essential 21st-century skills, such as CT and environmental awareness [15], and boost preschoolers’ active involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields in a playful way [15,16].

One of the STEM disciplines that is considered very important to be introduced in compulsory education, starting from the early years of schooling, is environmental science, since it creates environmentally aware citizens that respect nature [17] and can promote environmental and resource sustainability [18]. Involving young children in well-designed environmental learning experiences, driven by developmentally-appropriate play-based pedagogical techniques, creates ecologically literate persons, and, at the same time, advocates their social interaction, empowers their language and literacy abilities, and supports several aspects of their development—e.g., cognitive, social, emotional and physical [18,19].

Research has shown that STEM education can enhance the cultivation of CT [15,20], which is no longer considered as a set of skills required just by computer scientists [21]. On the contrary, CT offers individuals the ability to think in the way that a computer scientist would do to solve a problem [21,22]. In the modern digital era, along with developing reading, writing, and arithmetic, pupils at early stages of schooling should also cultivate CT skills such as logical thinking, sequencing abilities, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking [21]. Exploring the plethora of approaches to CT as a skillset, we notice that algorithmic thinking is one of its fundamental competencies [23,24,25]. Algorithmic thinking refers to the ability to formulate solutions to problems by specifying the exact steps needed [19,26]. Since more than one correct and appropriate method, that is to say algorithm, may often exist to solve a problem, the cultivation of algorithmic thinking skills entails, among other things, the ability to detect the most appropriate sequence of steps to accomplish predefined objectives [27]. In contemporary educational systems, the development of algorithmic thinking and CT in general, has emerged as an important learning need that should be supported by age-appropriate educational frameworks and technologies [28].

Nonetheless, advocating for CT as an indispensable set of skills across all aspects of work and life is crucial [29]. This should be pursued not within narrow technical contexts but rather in environments that encourage the cultural and aesthetic development of young pupils [30]. This policy not only moves away from creating technocrats who lack awareness of significant global socioenvironmental issues [31], but it could also promote the aim of enhancing environmental literacy, fostering a strong connection to nature [32], and, in turn, safeguarding the planet’s future [31].

Having in mind the importance of (a) exploiting effective and engaging educational practices, such as robotics, (b) cultivating 21st-century skills, such as CT and environmental awareness, as soon as possible in K-12, and (c) providing impactful learning experiences in early childhood education, we propose an innovative teaching and learning framework, the purpose of which is to support the concurrent cultivation of algorithmic thinking—as a fundamental CT skill—and environmental awareness in early school age.

Towards the first axis of the proposed framework concerning exercising pupils’ algorithmic thinking as a crucial component of CT, we utilise ER, as it has been shown to promote CT while simultaneously engaging children in learning and facilitating the understanding of important scientific subjects [3,4]. The pupils are tasked with programming a robot to navigate from a starting point to an endpoint on a mat they have designed themselves, while the specific path is not provided. To achieve this task, they must develop their own algorithms, applying their algorithmic thinking.

The second axis of the proposed framework concentrates on elucidating the role that water plays in public health and living standards and emphasising the extent to which the natural cycle of water resources is at risk. Aiming to increase pupils’ environmental awareness, we focus on highlighting factors that have a polluting effect on water resources. We also place particular importance on ensuring that pupils comprehend the necessity of reducing water wastage in households, highlighting the methods by which this can be achieved without compromising standards of living.

An essential characteristic of the proposed framework is its play-based structure. The idea that play has educational value was born in ancient Greece. The famous philosopher Plato suggested regulating the nature of children’s play to prevent social disorder. He proposed exploiting it for tutoring children for their professions as adults. For example, if a boy were to be a builder or a farmer, his teacher should provide him with relevant miniature tools modelled on real ones, so he can play at being a builder or a farmer, respectively [33].

Nowadays, play constitutes an essential element of the learning process for preschool and early school-age children, as it is an important part of their activities and prepares them for life, in the sense that it contributes to the formation of their personality and skills. Children in play are nurtured to explore, express, and make their own choices [34]. The experiences they acquire while playing have a strong influence on applying and improving their creativity, getting used to working in groups, learning from their mistakes or failures, and developing skills related to classification, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem solving [35].

Within the context of play-based multidisciplinary pedagogy, and in the light of the 4th Industrial Revolution, we endorse the introduction of robotics in formal educational settings, starting from kindergarten. Towards this end, we exploit Bee-Bot, a small, floor-based, programmable robot for early ages, which is mainly used in play-based educational environments for developing fundamental STEM concepts that will be built upon in kindergarten and later grades [36].

The significance of this work pertains to the fact that the parallel enhancement of CT skills and environmental awareness via robotics in early childhood education remains underinvestigated, although both the importance of developing the above-mentioned skills and the educational effectiveness of robotics are well documented [15].

Thus, the main aim of this study is to investigate if well-designed and developmentally appropriate ER frameworks, like the one proposed in this study, facilitate young children to exercise their algorithmic thinking and cultivate environmental awareness at the same time. The principal conclusion of the study is that the proposed ER framework serves the concurrent exercise of algorithmic thinking and development of environmental awareness.

2. Materials and Methods

The research question of this case study is: “Does the proposed ER framework support second graders to exercise their algorithmic thinking and cultivate their environmental awareness?”

In order to answer the research question, we designed and implemented a descriptive case study based mainly on the interpretive paradigm [37]. For data collection we employed on-site observation and personal semi-structured interviews [37]. We conducted two interventions in each one of the two second grade classes that participated in the case study. The data type collected were narrative (field notes). The data analysis was mainly impressionistic [37].

2.1. Methods for Gathering the Research Data

During the research process, we used the following triangulation techniques:

• Investigator triangulation: the first two authors worked independently on observing the same classroom phenomena and gathering the research data. The distinct observational styles of the researchers have been reflected in the resulting data. All the authors checked divergences between researchers, aiming to achieve minimal divergence, i.e., reliability [37].
• Methodological triangulation: We employed different approaches for collecting data and corroborating our findings on the same subject of study, embracing the idea of convergence between independent measures of the same objective [37].

We employed participatory observation aiming to discern pupils’ behaviour as it occurs, and make appropriate notes about the salient features of the proposed ER framework [37]. Each one of the first two authors who conducted the research interventions kept notes from the field and recorded them within two days after each observation, since the quantity of information forgotten is very slight over a short period of time but accelerates quickly as more time passes [37]. The qualitative research strategy of triangulation was employed towards peer examination of the findings, respondent validation and reflexivity [37].

Additionally, the first two authors interviewed each pupil individually in the presence of the class teacher. The primary purpose of the semi-structured interviews was to give prominence to the aspects of the interventions that had the greatest impact on the pupils, both favorably and adversely. Another aspect brought out via the interviews was the pupils’ previous robotics experience. Both the first two authors worked independently while keeping notes of the pupils’ responses within the context of the investigator triangulation [37]. After a week had passed, the authors completed the evaluation of the pupils’ responses for differences across researchers, but none were found.

2.2. Participants and Setting

The study was carried out in the fall of 2023, in Crete, and more precisely in the city of Heraklion, which is the fifth biggest city in Greece. The research sample was 44 s graders, and it was gender-balanced. However, in the learning activities, 47 pupils participated, three of whom had special learning disabilities. These pupils were not considered members of the research sample, even though they participated in the learning activities. To address the demographics of the student population that participated in the study, we should note that it was not exclusively Greek. According to the school records and information gathered during the study, some of the pupils belonged to economic migrant families. Nevertheless, there was no reason to exclude them from the sample, since they spoke excellent Greek, they had lived in Greece most of their lives, and they were completely integrated into the broader social context. Finally, we should mention that the neighborhood of the school the study was implemented was of medium socioeconomic status.

2.3. Research Ethics

The study was conducted following the research ethical guidelines [37,38]. The interventions were carried out with the consent of the schools’ teachers and the parents of the pupils [37,39]. Additionally, we informed the pupils that they had the option to cease participating in the intervention at any time [37,39], but none of them chose to do so.

2.4. Materials

The robot and programming technology exploited was Bee-Bot (Figure 1), an easily programmable floor robot designed for early learners [40]. Bee-Bot can move in steps of 15 cm, turn in 90 degrees, and remember up to 40 steps. It exposes young pupils to the aspects of CT [15,41], and, in addition, can serve as a basis for teaching subjects like science, math, language, and literacy [15,40].

2.5. The First Set of Interventions

The purpose of the first set of interventions was to introduce the pupils to the Bee-Bot and examine if they were able to construct an algorithm for a specific route to follow. They were held as part of the Informatics course and lasted one instructional hour each. In order to present the functionality of Bee-Bot, we constructed a mat specifically for the research using C2 (45.8 × 64.8 cm) series cardboard. The mat’s route is depicted in Figure 2.

After being introduced to Bee-Bot’s functionality, the pupils formed working groups, choosing their own team composition. The groups consisted of four or five persons, except for one case where six pupils insisted on working together and were allowed to do so. At this point, they exercised their programming skills on the first map (Figure 2), placing the Bee-Bot in the START cell and programming it to go to the END cell (Figure 3).

Afterwards, we encouraged pupils to program the Bee-Bot using a second mat we had constructed (Figure 4).

In addition, we instructed the pupils on how to record the Bee-Bot’s movements on paper, using arrows similar to those on the Bee-Bot’s back. Stated differently, the pupils learnt how to write programming code on paper. Although teamwork was permitted, we asked the pupils to develop their own code.

During this learning activity, the pupils continued to practice the sequence control structure of programming. The starting point of the route was the START cell, and the Bee-Bot was placed to face the number one cell. The end of the route was the END cell. Thus, there were no alternatives for completing the task. The code the pupils wrote is presented in Figure 5. The arrow pointing to the left indicates turning to the left. The arrows pointing upward represent the movement one step ahead. Since the task was short and easy, all the pupils got it done, although collaboration was necessary in some cases.

2.6. The Second Set of Interventions

The second set of interventions lasted three instructional hours each and were carried out on the same day for each class that participated in the study. They were implemented in the context of the Environmental Studies course, focusing on the thematic unit of the water cycle since it provides fertile ground to cultivate environmental knowledge and reinforce pupils’ environmental awareness [42].

In each class, we initially carried out a diagnostic assessment, discussing the water cycle with the pupils and jotting down the ideas that emerged from the brainstorming on the board (Figure 6). At this point, we should clarify that, in Greece, the water cycle is introduced for the first time to the pupils in the second grade of primary schools. The diagnostic assessment aimed to reveal the second-graders’ perceptions of the elements of the water cycle, assisting them in forming a comprehensive understanding of the water cycle by connecting its components.

In order to introduce the new information regarding the water cycle, we showed a relevant short clip. Furthermore, we performed relevant songs that we collectively sang. For example, we sang “The little river”, which is based on a titular poem by the famous Greek poet Zacharias Papantoniou (1877–1940). The music was composed by the acclaimed Greek singer and composer Mariza Koch (1944–). The song was performed by Mariza Koch’s children’s music group. The lyrics are as follows:

- Where are you from, little river?—I am from that mountain.—What was your grandfather’s name?—Cloud in the sky.

- Who is your mother?—The rain.—Why did you come down to the country?—To water the fields and turn the mills.

- Wait a moment to look at you, my dear little river.—I am in a hurry to leave and meet the shore.

These learning activities gave rise to the verbs that describe the water cycle i.e., fall, roll, evaporate, and gather, together with relevant nouns, such as cloud, rain, river, waterfall, lake, sea, etc. As a component of the formative assessment, the pupils formed groups to complete a worksheet we gave them. On the worksheet, the pupils had to write down the verbs that describe the water cycle, while the first letter of each verb was given—in the Greek language (Figure 7).

We rounded out the introduction to the new information with a relevant theatrical game regarding ways we can preserve water in our everyday lives, e.g., when brushing our teeth or taking showers instead of having baths. The second author started the theatrical game, performing his morning hygiene routine (brushing teeth, cleansing face, etc). He stood in front of an imaginary mirror humming a song, turned on an imaginary tap, and pretended to wash his hands, brush his teeth rigorously, cleanse his face, wipe himself with the towel, and hung it back to its place. Finally, he turned off the tap. Having completed the dramatisation of the morning hygiene routine, he asked pupils to point out in which ways we can preserve water during the above-mentioned activities and encouraged pupils to act accordingly in the context of the theatrical game. All the pupils understood that we should not leave the tap running while performing our morning hygiene routine. Then he prompted them to present the way we may have a shower and brush our teeth without wasting water. This part of the intervention concluded with pupils mentioning instances where they or their relatives, used to waste water that could have been easily preserved, pointing out how this could have been avoided.

We also discussed with the pupils about the benefits of water and some concerns that come with it. In fact, a few days before the interventions were carried out, severe floods hit a region of Greece, causing enormous property damage, animal deaths, and even human fatalities. Thus, the pupils focused on discussing the causes and the results of floods, as well as the measures that citizens and the state should take to avoid them.

Afterwards, as the last assessment task, the pupils completed an evaluation form in groups, the content of which was about the cycle of water and was based on a relevant text contained in the second grade’s school textbook of Environmental Studies. The evaluation form was constructed by exploiting a hybrid schema of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blanks testing formats in order to reinforce learning and assess understanding. It resulted from the removal of words from the original text, which were keywords for the topic under consideration. The pupils had to fill in the blanks with these keywords, which we gave them. Thus, although the pupils had to fill in the blanks, writing down the missing words, the nature of the task was strongly influenced by the multiple-choice tests (where alternative answers are provided), which are widely used for implementing both formative and summative assessment for science content knowledge, among other educational disciplines [43,44]. The degree of success of this activity reflected the understanding of the course content, i.e., the water cycle. This set of activities concluded with pupils receiving a fifteen-minute break.

Thereupon, we gave each group a Bee-Bot and an activity mat, having written in four cells of the mat the water cycle verbs: evaporate, collect, fall, and flow (Figure 8). We entered the numbers one through six in the remaining cells. The design of the case study included the construction of cardboard dice by the pupils themselves, being supported by their teachers, in order to provide them with a full Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) educational experience. The idea was that each pupil would roll the dice, and the number that would result would determine the robot’s starting point. Afterwards, the pupils would program the robot to initially go to the evaporate cell and then line the route of the water cycle.

Each group was asked to collectively draw their activity mat, taking inspiration from the four verbs written on it (Figure 9).

In Figure 10, the reader can see the activity mat drawn by a group of pupils who participated in the case study. In the blank part of the mat, the pupils were prompted to write their first names.

After the painting activity, the primary task of the intervention began, namely the programming of the Bee-Bot. Similar to the first intervention, although collaboration was allowed, each pupil had to program the Bee-Bot independently so that its path reflected the water cycle (Figure 11). The pupils also had to write down the implemented code.

The research design envisaged creating the dice in the classroom with the support of the teacher before the intervention. Unfortunately, the teachers did not respond. The reason they put forward as an explanation for not constructing the dice was the stress they experienced due to time pressure to cover the class’s curriculum. Since no dice were available, each pupil initially placed the Bee-Bot in the evaporate cell, facing the number three cell (Figure 8). Then, they had to program the Bee-Bot to move to the collect cell, then to the fall cell, then to the flow cell, and finally to the evaporate cell again, concluding the water cycle. It was made clear to the pupils that they could choose any solution they wanted, as long as the Bee-Bot lined the route given.

After the second teaching intervention was completed, we asked the pupils to talk about their experience in the context of personal, semi-structured interviews.

3. Results

Since the qualitative research methodology was adopted, data were obtained by employing on-site observation and conducting semi-structured interviews. Via the personal, semi-structured interviews, we recorded the pupils’ impressions and feelings regarding their involvement in the research process. The questions we asked mainly focused on highlighting the elements of the interventions that had the most positive, as well as the most negative impact on the pupils.

There was no pupil who expressed negative impressions or feelings. Most pupils showed preference for programming the Bee-Bot as well as for the collaborative nature of the interventions. The indicative answers we received were:

• Answer 1: “I liked that we pressed the bee’s buttons and we told it where to go.”
• Answer 2: “I liked that the bee didn’t go wherever it wanted. We had played this game in kindergarten, and I wanted to play it again.”
• Answer 3: “I liked that we played with the bee. We were all together and we didn’t quarrel.”
• Answer 4: “I liked it because it included math. I like math. You press the buttons as many times as you want it to move forward.”
• Answer 5: “I liked it because we all played together and we formulated teams.”
• Answer 6: “I liked it because we played with the bees with my favourite friends and, above all, I played in teams with all my classmates.”

In addition, one child stated that they liked recording the movements of the Bee-Bot the most, i.e., writing code, while a few children mentioned the activities that were exclusively related to the content of the lesson—the water cycle.

Within the context of the semi-structured interviews, we also asked the pupils about their prior experience in robotics. 27.27% of them i.e., 12 children, had prior exposure to the functionality of Bee-Bot during their time in kindergarten. Nevertheless, during the on-site observation, we did not notice any variations in performance due to the pupils’ prior experience. This finding was somewhat anticipated since the functionality of Bee-Bot is almost self-explanatory and readily comprehensible.

During the on-site observation, we recorded the enthusiasm with which the pupils embraced the activity (Figure 12). In fact, there were cases of children petting the Bee-Bot.

No pupil was sidelined during the group activities (Figure 13). On the contrary, a spirit of mutual assistance and cooperation prevailed.

During the second intervention, the theatrical exercise was succeeded by a discussion concerning daily activities involving aimless water consumption. Based on the discussion’s results, we should mention that although the pupils were not exploiting practices of preserving water in their daily lives, they could pinpoint cases where water could be preserved without lowering health and living standards. To begin with, all the pupils comprehended how to adopt more environmentally friendly practices while brushing their teeth and having a shower. Moreover, they deliberated on cases in which they or their relatives could effortlessly conserve water. They mentioned activities such as washing the dishes, washing the car, watering the garden and plants in pots, and cleaning the balcony or the yard.

Additionally, we noticed that when programming the Bee-Bot, the great majority of the pupils used the trial-and-error approach to recognise and remove potential errors. Thus, they were continuously reviewing the code, fixing any mistakes they found, and then reviewing it again. In other words, they were debugging their code employing the trial-and-error technique. Only one pupil wrote the entire code and checked it afterwards. Apropos, the code was correct.

At the beginning of the route, the robot was in the evaporate cell and it was facing the number three cell. Thus, its route to the gathering cell was straightforward, resulting all the pupils adopting the same solution. The code the pupils wrote is presented in Figure 14. The arrow pointing to the right indicates turning to the right.

Figure 15 presents the code the strong majority of the pupils wrote to move the robot from the gather cell to the fall cell. They programmed the robot to turn left twice in order to be able to move ahead.

Nevertheless, for the same route, one pupil wrote the code in Figure 16. In this programming version, the steps are fewer, but the Bee-Bot moves backwards. It is worth noting the comment of the pupil who programmed the Bee-Bot to move backwards, as they observed their classmates programming the Bee-Bot to make more movements as long as it moved forward: “I don’t understand why you’re doing this, since there is a way to get there faster.”

In other words, only one pupil programmed the Bee-Bot to move backwards for some part of the route, adopting the optimal programming strategy i.e., the solution with fewer steps (Figure 16). All the others preferred to have the Bee-Bot take extra steps, as long as the movement was always forward (Figure 15).

According to the method described below, the pupils kept on writing code for completing the route of the water cycle.

The second intervention in each class concluded with an activity which aimed at enhancing pupils’ environmental awareness. The pupils discussed and then drew about the benefits of water (Figure 17).

Alternatively, they could depict the catastrophes it could cause. Nowadays, access to the media, particularly television, makes pupils aware of a wide range of social issues. A short period before implementing the interventions, all Greek television channels covered the devastating floods that hit a region in Greece. As a result, many pupils handed us flood paintings (Figure 18).

As far as the results of the evaluation form is concerned, all the groups managed to fill in the blanks with the keywords given. Nevertheless, we noticed that some pupils were more effective than others in filling in the blanks.

The Dominant Themes

The main purpose of the semi-structured interviews was to reveal the aspects of the interventions that had the greatest impact on the pupils. Based on the responses given, the themes were “play with the bee”, “use of math”, “prefer game-based activities”, “prefer teamwork”, “prefer hands-on activities” [45].

Using both on-site observation and semi-structured interviews, we found consistent patterns in pupils’ preferences across both data sources, reinforcing our point of view that the proposed ER framework offers children enjoyable experiences that help them gain a deeper understanding of the scientific problem being studied.

4. Discussion

Since the 1960s, the notion that education may serve as a means of disseminating knowledge and helping protect the natural environment has grown in popularity [42]. Environmental education for young children has been introduced over time in several formal, and informal settings, e.g., at nature centres and zoos [46], through a variety of teaching strategies (e.g., group learning, place-based learning, active pupil participation) and instructional activities (e.g., field excursions and lectures in the classroom) [47]. In the Greek educational system, and more specifically in the first grades of Primary School, the Environmental Studies course provides a suitable ground for the provision of environmental education. According to its current curriculum, it constitutes a unified learning framework with an interdisciplinary character, while its purpose emphasises the need to form aware citizens who will be interested, among other things, in sustainable development, environmental protection, and their participation in solving environmental problems on the planet [48].

Pupils’ awareness of climate change, their understanding of recycling garbage, and their comprehension of ecological issues like the water cycle are just a few examples of how the outcome of environmental knowledge has been conceptualised [42].

Our decision to focus on studying the water cycle is connected with the fact that, interestingly, understanding its approach might become challenging even for older students, not to mention teachers themselves. For example, it is noteworthy that even university students might experience difficulties in comprehending the water cycle completely. In fact, sometimes they have the same misconceptions as preschoolers [49]. An additional stimulus for engaging with the water cycle was the fact that connections between the concepts introduced in the classroom and the daily experiences of children could trigger their interest and encourage them to apply the new knowledge in everyday life, adopting environmentally friendly stances and behaviours [49]. Besides, young children may better process scientific thinking and more deeply comprehend natural phenomena when they connect scientific fields with their experiences, conceptions and thoughts [49].

During the proposed ER framework, the pupils cultivated and mastered knowledge in programming, exercised their algorithmic thinking, and developed their environmental awareness. Exploiting Bee-Bot supported learning through play and formed an educational context of easy, fast, and effective learning due to its playful nature [50]. Making drawings and discussing with each other helped them express themselves and hear different perspectives on demanding concepts, such as the water cycle. In this way, pupils learnt from each other and made connections between the water cycle and experiences in everyday situations [41].

Studying the research results, we could assert that the proposed ER framework has successfully met its aim of enhancing pupils’ environmental awareness about the significance of water and the necessity to curtail its excessive use. Indeed, the discussion that followed the theatrical game, along with the pupils’ drawings, demonstrates their comprehension of the importance of being more environmentally conscious with regard to water usage.

The enquiries we conducted within the context of the semi-structured interviews primarily concentrated on identifying the components of the interventions that exerted the most favourable and unfavourable effects on the pupils. Our goal was to ensure that the pupils had an enjoyable learning experience, which helped them grasp and understand the essence of education without feeling like they were in a traditional learning environment [51]. We leveraged pupils’ knowledge gained from their everyday experiences and crafted an engaging, creative, innovative, and enjoyable educational framework that is centred on pupils’ positive feelings and active involvement [51]. Since the role of fun and enjoyment is recognised as an inherent and significant element of children’s learning processes [51], we incorporated activities such as singing, theatrical games, painting, and watching videos. We also exploited ER since it offers pupils the chance to explore new subjects and generate knowledge by addressing real-world problems encountered in daily life or professional settings, enhances their engagement in the educational process, boosts motivation for acquiring knowledge, and improves learning outcomes [3,4].

Our decision to embrace group work is based on the understanding that meaningful interactions with peers significantly enhance learning outcomes and satisfaction. Peer interaction can considerably ameliorate the active learning process through the collaborative exchange of knowledge, such as in group discussions and projects that are based on teamwork [52]. Influenced by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which prioritises group work and interactive exercises, we provided pupils the practical opportunity to collaborate in a playful educational setting. Scaffolding tools such as cooperative and hands-on activities were employed to support knowledge acquisition. The researchers intervened only when the pupils encountered difficulties that they could not solve via group work and needed help [53]. The meaningfulness of the pupils’ interaction and the significance of the learning gained through interactive communication were reflected in their coding style. The choice of a pupil to exploit the backward movement sparked constructive discussions among peers regarding the variety of the programming solutions of a problem.

The pupils’ initial preference to program it to move ahead reflects that they perceive the robot as alive a priori [54]. The robot becomes a character they interact with. The pupils develop empathy towards it, with its movement rather than its appearance favouring its representation as alive [54]. However, when we explained to them that, in some cases, programming the robot to move backwards would lead to more sophisticated coding with fewer steps, many of them tried to implement this alternative. Thus, they cultivated their algorithmic thinking skills, understanding that a problem may have more than one solution, with some of them to be the ultimate ones. In our case, the ultimate solution was the one with the fewer steps i.e., the solution that included the backward movement.

Another issue that emerged during the interventions was the difficulty of comprehending the cyclic nature of water [54]. When we provided the pupils the water cycle mats, a pupil observed that the verbs were not placed on a cycle and told us that there was no cycle on the cardboard. However, the use of robotics and drawing as scaffolding tools provided children playful and relaxing experiences, as well as deeper insights about the scientific issue under study [54].

Limitations and Future Research Directions

A limitation of this study is that its results are not generalisable. Thus, our future research directions include extending the present case study by employing a larger sample size. Expanding our research would involve, among other things, a more comprehensive representation of the data analysis process, which is currently limited in this case study.

Furthermore, we plan to investigate the applicability of the presented educational framework in extra sections of the Environmental Studies course. A relevant research topic we also intend to examine is the readiness of teachers to introduce robotics in the educational process in the context of the Environmental Studies course in the second grade of primary school.

Another limitation of this case study is that its results cannot not be easily cross-checked, since the interpretive paradigm was adopted [37]. Furthermore, despite the attempts made to address reflexivity, there might be problems of observer bias [37].

As far as the last assessment task of the second intervention is concerned, since filling in the blanks of the evaluation form demanded more time than we expected, we intend to lessen its content.

5. Conclusions

In recent times, ER has become increasingly popular worldwide, since it serves the needs and demands of today’s pupils for interactive, collaborative, and captivating learning experiences. In contemporary educational environments, ER advances the learning outcomes since it improves children’s cognitive skills related to STEM, such as CT, even from the sensitive years of early childhood education [3,4,55]. Furthermore, it provides a simple, entertaining and tangible way for young learners to improve their mathematical thinking, creativity, communication, and social skills [56].

This case study offers insights into a multidisciplinary educational environment that exploits ER to cultivate early learners’ CT skills and, at the same time, to promote their environmental awareness. Taking into account that robot programming can start at the age of three [56], the proposed ER framework has been designed to be developmentally appropriate for early learners, reflecting on the perceptions that: (a) CT is essential to be cultivated as soon as possible in K-12, starting from kindergarten [21], and (b) early childhood should be the starting point for developing environmental literacy [18]. Orienting education towards environmental awareness and sustainability cultivates individual and collective environmental and health consciousness [57]. Towards this end, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) include environmental related disciplinary core ideas, such global climate change, biodiversity and humans, and the role of water in Earth’s surface processes. NGSS also include the influence of engineering, technology and science on society and the natural world in the list of the proposed crosscutting concepts [58].

The pillar of this case study i.e., exploiting ER to concurrently cultivate CT skills and environmental awareness in early childhood education, was not only a result of the fact that the relevant research field remains under-investigated [15]. Actually, it was driven by the stance that high-quality early childhood education and care set the groundwork for subsequent academic performance, well-being, employability, and social integration [59]. Towards this end, we propose a novel educational framework that focuses on developing fundamental 21st century skills, such as CT and environmental awareness, as possible in K-12, by all the citizens of modern societies.