The Impact of Project-Based Learning with a Hands-On Robotics Approach on Students Conceptual Understanding

This study examined the effectiveness of a robotics-integrated Project-Based Learning (PBL) model in enhancing students’ conceptual understanding and learning motivation. Eleven high school students voluntarily participated in a one-day intensive program that combined brief theoretical instruction with hands-on activities using basic robotic components and simple programming tasks designed to promote experiential learning and higher-order thinking skills. Data were collected through pre- and post-intervention online questionnaires measuring conceptual understanding and learning interest on Likert scales and were analyzed using paired t-tests and Spearman correlation analyses. The results indicated a statistically significant improvement in students conceptual understanding following the intervention (t = 5.1640, p = 0.0004), demonstrating the cognitive effectiveness of robotics-based PBL within a short instructional duration. In contrast, learning motivation showed a slight but non-significant decline (t = –0.2955, p = 0.7736), suggesting that short-term interventions may be insufficient to sustain affective engagement. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate positive relationship between pre- and post-understanding scores (r = 0.46), while learning motivation exhibited a strong negative association (r = –0.78), indicating a potential divergence between cognitive gains and motivational outcomes. Overall, the findings suggest that robotics-integrated PBL is a promising instructional approach for improving conceptual understanding, although sustaining students’ motivation may require longer program implementation, repeated exposure, and the integration of explicit motivational strategies.