The use of the bee-bot robot as a learning tool for emotions in the teaching of students with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have experimented in this last decade a great expansion (Ferreyra, Méndez and Rodrigo, 2009). In this sense, ICTs have been progressively incorporated in schools acting as a resource at the service of an inclusive
school. This school aims to respond to all students in the center, with special emphasis on students with Specific Educational Support Needs (Arnaiz, 2013). Specifically, among these students we find the student body with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Following the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), TEA is a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in two areas: (1) social interaction and communication and (2) repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities. The ample demand for resources on the part of teaching teams to achieve a quality teaching process for students with TEA (Kim et al., 2018) and the characteristics of ICT that are perfectly aligned with the methodological principles that should guide the teaching-learning process of these students, make their use experience exponential growth in this context. Among the different types of ICT implemented with these students we can find robotics (Dielh, Schmitt, Villano and Crowell, 2012). The use of this technology has increased in the last 20 years as a consequence of the increase in research that supports robotics as a potentially effective tool for children with ASD (Dielh et al., 2018). In this sense, robots have permitted the creation of simple and controlled learning environments (Josman et al., 2018), reducing the anxiety that can cause them. However, although most studies show positive effects (Goodrich et al., 2012; Huskens et al., 2013; Yun, Choi and Park, 2015), most of these studies have methodological limitations and have exploratory character due to the low number of participants involved. Likewise, the use of robots is limited by the large costs that must be assumed by schools and by the lack of availability of these devices (Alexander et al., 2011). In this sense, the use of robots in educational contexts is limited. Thus, the purpose of the study has been to perform an intervention for the understanding, recognition and expression of emotions with the use of the Bee-Bot robot, an affordable robot for schools. Through a mixed methodology by means of a case study, 10 students between the ages of 5 and 18, belonging to a Specific Communication and Language Unit (UECYL), have participated. This classroom belongs to a school of Infant and Primary Education  of Alicante. The instrument used has been a pretest-postest with different dimensions. The results of the present research indicate that the students present a quite remarkable evolution in the learning of basic emotions, as well as in aspects related to programming and spatial orientation. To conclude, we can say that robotics is a tool with a strong impact on the socio-emotional intervention of students with TEA, creating simple scenarios in which to learn and practice different skills. This work is part of the research line of the research group of the University of Alicante IncluTic (VIRGROB- 321).