Educational robotics

Researches at MOBOTS pursuit developing innovative educational robots technologies and investigating their impact in learning activities.

Thymio and e-puck

The MOBOTS team has a long tradition of development of mobile robots for education, starting with the Khepera robot, through platforms like the MarxBot and up to the more recent Thymio and e-puck robots.

Because the policy of bringing these tools to the market, these robot have reached thousands of schools, from primary to university level. These results have been reached with the help of companies or association manufacturing and distributing these tools, but also with the help of government that supported their introduction in schools.

In the recent years, synergies have been created with the EPFL Center for Learning Sciences LEARN, merging the robotics effort with a more broad effort in education about computational thinking, computer science, and digital literacy.

The studies conducted in MOBOTS realated to Education were mainly founded by the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCRs), more especifically in the Grand Challenge of Educational Robotics.

2024

Book Chapters

How to Support Students to Cultivate Psychological Safety in their Teams

Y. Jalali; B. Alberink; J. Dehler Zufferey; F. Mondada 

Teaching Transversal Skills for Engineering Students: A Practical Handbook of Activities with Tangibles; EPFL, 2024.

DOI : 10.5281/zenodo.11192095

2023

Journal Articles

Correction: How are primary school computer science curricular reforms contributing to equity? Impact on student learning, perception of the discipline, and gender gaps (vol 10, 60, 2023)

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; C. Audrin; M. Chevalier; S. Avry et al. 

International Journal Of Stem Education

2023-11-02

Vol. 10 , num. 1, p. 63.

DOI : 10.1186/s40594-023-00456-1

Un modèle pluraliste d’éducation numérique, l’expérience du canton de Vaud en Suisse

D. Boullier; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; G. Liegeois; F. Mondada; N. Badoux et al. 

Distances et Médiations des savoirs

2023-10-13

Vol. 43/2023 .

DOI : 10.4000/dms.9344

A Research-Practice Partnership to Introduce Computer Science in Secondary School: Lessons from a Pilot Program

L. El-Hamamsy; J-P. Pellet; M. Roberts; H. Kovacs; B. Bruno et al. 

ACM Transactions on Computing Education

2023-02-15

DOI : 10.1145/3583779

An Adapted Cascade Model to Scale Primary School Digital Education Curricular Reforms and Teacher Professional Development Programs

L. El-Hamamsy; E-C. Monnier; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; G. Liegeois et al. 

2023

DOI : 10.48550/arxiv.2306.02751

How are primary school computer science curricular reforms contributing to equity? Impact on student learning, perception of the discipline, and gender gaps

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; C. Audrin; M. Chevalier; S. Avry et al. 

International Journal of STEM Education

2023

Vol. 10 , num. 1.

DOI : 10.1186/s40594-023-00438-3

An adapted cascade model to scale primary school digital education curricular reforms and teacher professional development programs

L. El-Hamamsy; E-C. Monnier; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; G. Liegeois et al. 

Education and Information Technologies

2023

DOI : 10.1007/s10639-023-12043-6

Modelling the sustainability of a primary school digital education curricular reform and professional development program

L. El-Hamamsy; E-C. Monnier; S. Avry; M. Chevalier; B. Bruno et al. 

Education and Information Technologies

2023

DOI : 10.1007/s10639-023-11653-4

From teacher to teacher-trainer: A qualitative study exploring factors contributing to a successful train-the-trainer digital education program

E-C. Monnier; S. Avry; L. El-Hamamsy; C. Pulfrey; C. Caneva et al. 

Social Sciences & Humanities Open

2023

Vol. 8 , num. 1, p. 100518.

DOI : 10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100518

Datasets

Dataset for the evaluation of student-level outcomes of a primary school Computer Science curricular reform

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; J. Dehler Zufferey; F. Mondada 

2023

Dataset for the evaluation of the scalability of a primary school Digital Education curricular reform

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; J. Dehler Zufferey; F. Mondada 

2023

2022

Journal Articles

The TACS Model: Understanding Primary School Teachers’ Adoption of Computer Science Pedagogical Content

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; J. Dehler Zufferey et al. 

ACM Transactions on Computing Education

2022-10-26

DOI : 10.1145/3569587

The role of feedback and guidance as intervention methods to foster computational thinking in educational robotics learning activities for primary school

M. Chevalier; C. Giang; L. El-Hamamsy; E. Bonnet; V. Papaspyros et al. 

Computers & Education

2022-01-07

Vol. 180 , p. 104431.

DOI : 10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104431

The CT-cube: A framework for the design and the assessment of computational thinking activities

A. Piatti; G. Adorni; L. El-Hamamsy; L. Negrini; D. Assaf et al. 

Computers in Human Behavior Reports

2022-01-06

p. 100166.

DOI : 10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100166

The competent Computational Thinking Test: Development and Validation of an Unplugged Computational Thinking Test for Upper Primary School

L. El-Hamamsy; M. Zapata-Cáceres; E. Martín-Barroso; F. Mondada; J. Dehler Zufferey et al. 

Journal of Educational Computing Research

2022

p. 073563312210817.

DOI : 10.1177/07356331221081753

Conference Papers

A case for co-construction with teachers in curricular reform: Introducing computer science in primary school

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; H. Kovacs; M. Chevalier; J. Dehler Zufferey et al. 

ACE ’22: Australasian Computing Education Conference

2022-02-14

Australasian Computing Education Conference, Virtual, February 14-18, 2022.

p. 56-65

DOI : 10.1145/3511861.3511883

Reports

Projet EduNum – obligatoire et postobligatoire. Rapport sur la quatrième année.

C. Caneva; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; D. Badoux; G. Bourquin et al. 

2022

p. 106.

Datasets

Dataset for the publication “The TACS Model: Understanding Teachers’ Adoption of Computer Science Pedagogical Content in Primary School”

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; J. D. Zufferey et al. 

2022

Dataset for the validation of a Computational Thinking test for upper primary school (grades 3-4)

L. El-Hamamsy; M. Zapata-Cáceres; E. M. Barroso; F. Mondada; J. D. Zufferey et al. 

2022

2021

Journal Articles

Accessible Maker-based Approaches to Educational Robotics in Online Learning

A. Mehrotra; C. Giang; L. El-Hamamsy; A. Guinchard; A. Dame et al. 

IEEE Access

2021-07-02

Vol. 10 , p. 1-15.

DOI : 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3094158

The symbiotic relationship between educational robotics and computer science in formal education

L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; M. Chevalier; D. Roy et al. 

Education and Information Technologies

2021-04-04

Vol. 26 , p. 5077–5107.

DOI : 10.1007/s10639-021-10494-3

A computer science and robotics integration model for primary school: evaluation of a large-scale in-service K-4 teacher-training program

L. El-Hamamsy; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; B. Bruno; D. Roy; T. Cahlikova et al. 

Education and Information Technologies

2021

Vol. 26 , p. 2445–2475.

DOI : 10.1007/s10639-020-10355-5

Conference Papers

Exploring a Handwriting Programming Language for Educational Robots

L. El-Hamamsy; V. Papaspyros; T. Kangur; L. Mathex; C. Giang et al. 

Robotics in Education

2021-08-01

12th International Conference on Robotics in Education (Rie 2021), Bratislava, Slovakia, April 28-30, 2021.

p. 268-275

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-82544-7_25

Developing STEM and Team-working Skills Through Collaborative Space Robotics Missions

K. Su; E. Bonnet; F. Mondada 

AFRICON Conference Proceedings 2021

2021

2021 IEEE AFRICON, Arusha, Tanzania, 13-15 Sept. 2021.

p. 1-6

DOI : 10.1109/AFRICON51333.2021.9570851

Investigating the Role of Educational Robotics in Formal Mathematics Education: The Case of Geometry for 15-Year-Old Students

J. Brender; L. El-Hamamsy; B. Bruno; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; J. Dehler Zufferey et al. 

Technology-Enhanced Learning for a Free, Safe, and Sustainable World

2021

European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2021), Virtual, Septembre 20-24, 2021.

p. 67-81

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-86436-1_6

Teachers’ Perspective on Fostering Computational Thinking Through Educational Robotics

M. Chevalier; L. El-Hamamsy; C. Giang; B. Bruno; F. Mondada 

Robotics in Education

2021

International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE 2021), Bratislava, Slovakia, April 28-30, 2021.

p. 177-185

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-82544-7_17

Book Chapters

Aligning the Design of Educational Robotics Tools With Classroom Activities

C. Giang; A. Piatti; F. Mondada 

Designing, Constructing, and Programming Robots for Learning; IGI Global, 2021-11-01. p. 368.

ISBN : 978-1-799874-43-0

DOI : 10.4018/978-1-7998-7443-0.ch001

Reports

Projet EduNum — Obligatoire: Rapport sur la troisième année En Collaboration avec la HEP Vaud, l’UNIL et le DFJC

C. Caneva; S. Avry; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; L. El-Hamamsy; Y. L. Froidevaux et al. 

2021-11-15

p. 159.

Datasets

Dataset for the evaluation of a large-scale in-service K-4 teacher-training program for computer science and robotics

L. El-Hamamsy; F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; B. Bruno; J. D. Zufferey; F. Mondada 

2021

2020

Journal Articles

Fostering computational thinking through educational robotics: a model for creative computational problem solving

M. Chevalier; C. Giang; A. Piatti; F. Mondada 

International Journal of STEM Education

2020-08-03

Vol. (2020) 7:39 , p. 1-18.

DOI : 10.1186/s40594-020-00238-z

Conference Papers

Introducing a Paper-Based Programming Language for Computing Education in Classrooms

A. Mehrotra; C. Giang; N. Duruz; J. Dedelley; A. Mussati et al. 

Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

2020

2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Trondheim, Norway, June 15-19, 2020.

DOI : 10.1145/3341525.3387402

Learning Symmetry with Tangible Robots

W. Johal; S. Andersen; M. Chevalier; A. Ozgur; F. Mondada et al. 

Robotics In Education: Current Research And Innovations

2020-01-01

10th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE), Vienna, AUSTRIA, Apr 10-12, 2019.

p. 270-283

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-26945-6_24

Reports

Formation des enseignant·e·s au numérique Rapport sur la deuxième année de formation à l’Education Numérique aux Cycles 1 et 2A en Collaboration avec la HEP Vaud, l’UNIL et le DFJC

F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; G. Liegeois; C. Pulfrey; L. El-Hamamsy; M. Coestier et al. 

2020

p. 105.

2019

Conference Papers

A Tangible Programming Language for the Educational Robot Thymio

A. Mussati; C. Giang; A. Piatti; F. Mondada 

[Proceedings of the IISA 2019 The 10th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications]

2019-08-18

IISA 2019 The 10th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications, Patras, Greece, July 15-17, 2019.

Augmented Robotics for Learners: A Case Study on Optics

W. Johal; O. Robu; A. R. Dame; S. Magnenat; F. Mondada 

2019 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

2019

IEEE RoMan 2019 – The 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication, New Delhi, India, October 14 – 18, 2019.

DOI : 10.1109/RO-MAN46459.2019.8956363

Reports

Formation des Enseignant·e·s au Numérique: Rapport sur la Première Année de Formation à la Science Informatique au Cycle 1 en Collaboration avec la HEP Vaud, l’Unil et le DFJC

F. Chessel-Lazzarotto; L. El-Hamamsy; F. Mondada; J. Dehler Zufferey 

2019-04-20

p. 99.

Patents

Magnet-assisted ball drive

A. Özgür; S. Lemaignan; W. Johal; F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg et al. 

Patent number(s) :

  • US10377231 (B2)
  • US2019016213 (A1)

2019

2018

Conference Papers

Declarative Physicomimetics for Tangible Swarm Application Development

A. Özgür; W. Johal; A. Güneysu Özgür; F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg 

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Swarm Intelligence, ANTS 2018

2018-10-29

11th International Conference on Swarm Intelligence, ANTS 2018, Rome, Italy, October 29-31, 2018.

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-030-00533-7

Iterative Design of an Upper Limb Rehabilitation Game with Tangible Robots

A. Güneysu Özgür; M. J. Wessel; W. Johal; K. Sharma; A. Özgür et al. 

Proceedings of 2018 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction

2018-03-05

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Chicago, IL, USA, March 5-8, 2018.

p. 241-250

DOI : 10.1145/3171221.3171262

2017

Conference Papers

Windfield: Demonstrating Wind Meteorology with Handheld Haptic Robots

A. Ozgur; W. Johal; F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg 

HRI ’17 Proceedings of the Companion of the 2017 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction

2017

HRI ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Vienna, Austria, March 6-9, 2017.

p. 48-49

DOI : 10.1145/3029798.3036664

Haptic-Enabled Handheld Mobile Robots: Design and Analysis

A. Ozgur; W. Johal; F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg 

Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

2017

CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Denver, Colorado, USA, May 6-11, 2017.

p. 2449-2461

DOI : 10.1145/3025453.3025994

Cellulo: Versatile Handheld Robots for Education

A. Ozgur; S. Lemaignan; W. Johal; M. Beltran; M. Briod et al. 

HRI ’17: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction Proceedings

2017

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Vienna, Austria, March 6-9, 2017.

p. 119-127

DOI : 10.1145/2909824.3020247

2016

Journal Articles

R2T2 : Robotics to Integrate Educational Efforts in South Africa and Europe

F. Mondada; E. Bonnet; S. Davrajh; W. Johal; R. Stopforth 

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

2016

Vol. 13 , num. 5, p. 1-13.

DOI : 10.1177/1729881416658165

Pedagogical Uses of Thymio II: How Do Teachers Perceive Educational Robots in Formal Education?

M. Chevalier; F. Riedo; F. Mondada 

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine

2016

Vol. 23 , num. 2, p. 16-23.

DOI : 10.1109/MRA.2016.2535080

2015

Conference Papers

You’re Doing It Wrong! Studying Unexpected Behaviors in Child-Robot Interaction

S. Lemaignan; J. Fink; F. Mondada; P. Dillenbourg 

Social Robotics, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference, ICSR 2015

2015

International Conference on Social Robotics, Paris, France, October 26-30, 2015.

p. 390-400

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-319-25554-5_39

IniRobot : a pedagogical kit to initiate children to concepts of robotics and computer science

D. Roy; P-Y. Oudeyer; S. Magnenat; F. Riedo; G. Gerber et al. 

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Robotics in Education

2015

6th International Conference on Robotics in Education, Yverdon, Switzerland, May 20-22, 2015.

p. 28-34

2014

Conference Papers

Which Robot Behavior Can Motivate Children to Tidy up Their Toys? Design and Evaluation of “Ranger”

J. Fink; S. Lemaignan; P. Dillenbourg; P. Rétornaz; F. C. Vaussard et al. 

Proceedings of the 2014 ACM/IEEE international conference on Human-robot interaction

2014

9th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI’14), Bielefeld, Germany, March 3-6, 2014.

p. 439-446

DOI : 10.1145/2559636.2559659

2013

Journal Articles

Upgrade Your Robot Competition, Make a Festival!

F. Riedo; M. Freire; J. Fink; G. Ruiz; F. Fassa et al. 

IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine

2013

Vol. 20 , num. 3, p. 12-14.

DOI : 10.1109/MRA.2013.2272203

Conference Papers

Thymio II, a robot that grows wiser with children

F. Riedo; M. S. D. Chevalier; S. Magnenat; F. Mondada 

Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO), 2013 IEEE Workshop on

2013

The 2013 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO), Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, November 7-9, 2013.

p. 187-193

DOI : 10.1109/ARSO.2013.6705527

2012

Conference Papers

Analysis of Impact of an Annual Robotics Festival

F. Riedo; J. Fink; M. Freire; F. Mondada 

Proceedings of the IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts

2012

The IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts, Munich, Germany, May 21-23, 2012.

p. 30-35

DOI : 10.1109/ARSO.2012.6213394