Investigating the effects of demographics and framing on the robot-theater program

While STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education programs have shown promise in increasing students’ interest in STEM and arts & design fields, the effects of demographic and other contextual factors have not been thoroughly investigated yet. While conducting robot-theater summer youth sessions with forty participants of the TechGirls international summer exchange program, we explored these factors. Participants in teams of four to six students created a script for a theater play that required the use of programmable robots. Results seem to suggest the influence of demographic factors such as nationality, as well as the effect of framing on participant attitudes towards robots and STEAM education. Subsequent validation of these effects in other studies is expected to contribute to refining the design of robot-theater and other STEAM education programs.