STEAM교육 접근에 의한 언플러그드 로봇 놀이프로그램이 유아의 창의적 및 사회적 인성 함양에 미치는 효과

The Effect of STEAM-based Unplugged Play Activities Using Robots on the Improvement of Children s Creative and Social Personalities

Objective: This study investigated 5-year-old children’s developmental levels forcreative and social personalities according to gender, and whether participationin STEAM-based unplugged robotic activities can improve their creative and socialpersonalities. Methods: Participants were 5-year-old children (N=125) from 11 child care centers. The experimental group included 39 boys and 24 girls enrolled in classrooms thatimplemented an unplugged activities curriculum over five weeks. The control groupconsisted of 38 boys and 34 girls. Data were analyzed using a t-test and analysisof covariance, and Hedges’ g was used to measure effect size. Results: First, the participating children’s mean scores on creative and socialpersonalities were 3.20 and 3.53 on a 5-point Likert scale, respectively. Girls scoredhigher than boys in sensitivity-various interests and imagination-playfulness domainsof creative personality and all three domains of social personality. Second, childrenin the experimental group showed improvement in all domains of social personalityand the effect size was large. They also improved in three domains (openness-humor,imagination-playfulness, independency-immersion) of creative personality, althoughthe effect size was small. Conclusion/Implications: The results imply that implementing a roboticscurriculum with unplugged play activities in early childhood classrooms contributesto 5-year-old children’s development of creative and social personalities.