Effects of educational robotics on the creativity and problem-solving skills of K-12 students: a meta-analysis

With the increasing use of robotics in education, this study examined the influence of educational robotics on K-12 students’ creativity and problem-solving skills by using Meta-analysis on 20 typical studies published from 2011 to 2021. Subsequent results exhibited five major points: 1) The overall effect of educational robotics was at 0.821; 2) Educational robotics had significantly improved students’ creativity more than their problem-solving skills; 3) Educational robotics had the best effect on kindergarten children, but only had less effect on middle school students; 4) Educational robotics had a more significant learning effect on girls than boys; and 5) Different course periods of educational robotic teaching all had a positive effect on learning, but would notably decrease as the course period extends. Hence, educational practitioners and researchers should completely utilise its advantages to effectively improve students’ creativity and problem-solving skills, and provide guidance for the development and application of educational robotics.