{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,2]],"date-time":"2025-01-02T05:27:37Z","timestamp":1735795657400,"version":"3.32.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,29]],"date-time":"2024-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1730160000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003803","name":"The University of Hong Kong","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["201511159173"],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003803","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"The Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund","award":["HKU 17101414"]},{"name":"The Wong Check She Charitable Foundation and the Research Fund from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology","award":["Nil"]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Robotics"],"abstract":"The present article explores the impact of educational robotics on fostering computational thinking and problem-solving skills in elementary school students through a problem-based learning approach. This study involved the creation of a framework which includes a robot and two eBooks designed for students and teachers. The eBooks serve as a guide to the construction and programming of a small Arduino-based robot. Through integration with gamification elements, the model features a narrative with three characters to boost a student\u2019s engagement and motivation. Through iteration of heuristic evaluations and practical tests, we refined the initial theoretical framework. An empirical study was conducted in two phases involving 350 students. The first empirical test involved a small group of 21 students, similar to end users, from five European schools. With a 100% completion rate for the tasks, 73.47% of these tasks were solved optimally. Later, we conducted a larger validation study which involved 329 students in a Portuguese school. This second phase of the study was conducted during the 2022\u20132023 and 2023\u20132024 school years with three study groups. The results led to a 91.13% success rate in problem-solving activities, and 56.99% of those students achieved optimal solutions. Advanced statistical techniques, including ANOVA, were applied to account for group differences and ensure the robustness of the findings. This study demonstrates that the proposed model which integrates educational robotics with problem-based learning effectively promotes computational thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for the 21st century. These findings support the inclusion of robotics into primary school curricula and provide a validated framework for educators.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics13110159","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,29]],"date-time":"2024-10-29T10:29:57Z","timestamp":1730197797000},"page":"159","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Arduino-Based Mobile Robotics for Fostering Computational Thinking Development: An Empirical Study with Elementary School Students Using Problem-Based Learning Across Europe"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9399-9981","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rolando","family":"Barradas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sciences and Technology-Engineering Department (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal"},{"name":"Intelligent Systems Associate Laboratory (LASI), Escola de Engenharia\u2014Universidade do Minho, Campus Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7884-5957","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Alberto","family":"Lencastre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIEd\u2014Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4704-553 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5862-5706","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salviano Pinto","family":"Soares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sciences and Technology-Engineering Department (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal"},{"name":"Intelligent Systems Associate Laboratory (LASI), Escola de Engenharia\u2014Universidade do Minho, Campus Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5798-1298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio","family":"Valente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sciences and Technology-Engineering Department (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"INESC TEC, Campus da Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1145\/1118178.1118215","article-title":"Computational Thinking","volume":"49","author":"Wing","year":"2006","journal-title":"Commun. 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