Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
This project focused on work with the Robolink (n.d.) CoDrone EDU, which is programmable through block-coding or Python, or can be flown with a controller. Each teacher self-evaluated knowledge and skills, before and after a 2-day workshop. This project served as a replication of a previous study (McAllister et al., 2023) with a different educational drone. CoDrone EDU was selected to familiarize teacher participants with a drone used for student competitions. Menkhoff et al. (2022) discussed a college course that taught students how to use drones so that they could be used effectively in an educational setting. Walach and Harrell (2021) discussed a workshop presented for teachers to learn to safely and effectively use drones for educational purposes in their classrooms. By giving teachers the knowledge and ability to effectively use drones, they could begin teaching their students. During the spring of 2024, teachers participated in two, 6-hour Saturday sessions to learn how to program the drone with Blockly and Python. Six teachers provided paired survey data for the self-efficacy scale (Tsai et al., 2019) and responded to open-ended questions. The goal was to provide high-quality, teacher professional development to increase knowledge and instructional skills for integrating drones into the elementary, middle, and secondary grades classroom. Measurable objectives included the following: 1. There will be a statistically significant increase in teachers’ scores on a 16-item, computer programming self-efficacy survey, between administrations of the instrument. 2. There will be a statistically significant increase in teachers’ scores on the five sub-scales of the computer programming self-efficacy survey, between administrations of the instrument. 3. Responses to open-ended questions will be analyzed for trends. Results showed a significant increase in computer programming self-efficacy and significant increases in three of the five sub-scale scores.
References McAllister, D. A., Lynberg, J. R., & Glidden, J. L. (2023). Assessing the programming self-efficacy of teachers through professional development combining drones and STEM activities. Reflections, 15(1), 21-28. https://www.gctm.org/resources/Documents/Newsletters/Reflections_S23_Issue.pdf Menkhoff, T., Kan, S. N., Tan, E. K. B., & Foong, S. (2022). Future-proofing students in higher education with unmanned aerial vehicles technology: A knowledge management case study. Knowledge Management & E-Learning, 14(2), 223-244. Robolink. (n.d.). CoDrone EDU. https://learn.robolink.com/codrone-edu Tsai, M.-J., Wang, C.-Y., & Hsu, P.-F. (2019). Developing the computer programming self-efficacy scale for computer literacy education. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 56(8), 1345-1360. Walach, M., & Harrell, M. (2021). Unmanned aerial systems take flight in Kentucky schools. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 80(8), 8-12.
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Recommended Citation
McAllister, Deborah A.; Lynberg, Jennifer R.; Sorrells, Anna Grace L.; and Behrman, Taylor L., "Continuing to assess the programming self-efficacy of teachers through professional development with drones". ReSEARCH Dialogues Conference proceedings. https://scholar.utc.edu/research-dialogues/2026/presentations/13.
Continuing to assess the programming self-efficacy of teachers through professional development with drones
This project focused on work with the Robolink (n.d.) CoDrone EDU, which is programmable through block-coding or Python, or can be flown with a controller. Each teacher self-evaluated knowledge and skills, before and after a 2-day workshop. This project served as a replication of a previous study (McAllister et al., 2023) with a different educational drone. CoDrone EDU was selected to familiarize teacher participants with a drone used for student competitions. Menkhoff et al. (2022) discussed a college course that taught students how to use drones so that they could be used effectively in an educational setting. Walach and Harrell (2021) discussed a workshop presented for teachers to learn to safely and effectively use drones for educational purposes in their classrooms. By giving teachers the knowledge and ability to effectively use drones, they could begin teaching their students. During the spring of 2024, teachers participated in two, 6-hour Saturday sessions to learn how to program the drone with Blockly and Python. Six teachers provided paired survey data for the self-efficacy scale (Tsai et al., 2019) and responded to open-ended questions. The goal was to provide high-quality, teacher professional development to increase knowledge and instructional skills for integrating drones into the elementary, middle, and secondary grades classroom. Measurable objectives included the following: 1. There will be a statistically significant increase in teachers’ scores on a 16-item, computer programming self-efficacy survey, between administrations of the instrument. 2. There will be a statistically significant increase in teachers’ scores on the five sub-scales of the computer programming self-efficacy survey, between administrations of the instrument. 3. Responses to open-ended questions will be analyzed for trends. Results showed a significant increase in computer programming self-efficacy and significant increases in three of the five sub-scale scores.
References McAllister, D. A., Lynberg, J. R., & Glidden, J. L. (2023). Assessing the programming self-efficacy of teachers through professional development combining drones and STEM activities. Reflections, 15(1), 21-28. https://www.gctm.org/resources/Documents/Newsletters/Reflections_S23_Issue.pdf Menkhoff, T., Kan, S. N., Tan, E. K. B., & Foong, S. (2022). Future-proofing students in higher education with unmanned aerial vehicles technology: A knowledge management case study. Knowledge Management & E-Learning, 14(2), 223-244. Robolink. (n.d.). CoDrone EDU. https://learn.robolink.com/codrone-edu Tsai, M.-J., Wang, C.-Y., & Hsu, P.-F. (2019). Developing the computer programming self-efficacy scale for computer literacy education. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 56(8), 1345-1360. Walach, M., & Harrell, M. (2021). Unmanned aerial systems take flight in Kentucky schools. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 80(8), 8-12.