Abstract

Prior work has shown that early childhood educators demonstrate a lack of knowledge and understanding about technology and engineering, and about developmentally appropriate pedagogical approaches to bring those disciplines into the classrooms. This paper reports a study in which 32 early childhood educators participated in an intensive three-day professional development workshop with the goals of: increasing teachers’ knowledge about robotics, engineering and programming, and pedagogies for teaching them in the early childhood classroom. Results show a statistically significant increase in the level of knowledge in all the three areas of technology in general, pedagogy, and robotics content knowledge after participation in the institute. Additionally, results show significant increases in several aspects of technology self-efficacy and attitudes toward technology. Implications for designing effective technology focused professional development are discussed.

Citation

Bers, M., Seddighin, S. & Sullivan, A. (2013). Ready for Robotics:Bringing together the T and E of STEM in early childhood teacher education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 21(3), 355-377. Waynesville, NC USA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education. Retrieved August 19, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/41987/.

© 2013 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education