Robots for Future Classrooms

Social robots are increasingly used in educational settings, but research on human–robot interaction in schools has largely focused on robotic functions and effects. Teacher attitudes towards robots are an important factor in determining the effectiveness of robot-related classroom interventions. In this paper we assessed the usefulness of the Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale (NARS) for use in U.S. populations. We reviewed research on the use of NARS and on teacher attitudes toward social robots, showing the potential of this scale for use in the field of education. Using data from 54 undergraduate students in a pre-service teacher education course, we found slightly different subscale loadings on the NARS than previous studies. We identified items on the scale that needed clarification and noted that the paucity of items related to emotional responses may limit the effectiveness of the scale as an international tool for assessing attitudes given cultural differences in emotion. We also found that lack of prior experience with robots was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes towards robots, suggesting that increased exposure to social robots in teacher education might be an effective way to improve educator attitudes toward robots.

This is the accepted manuscript of an article published in the International Journal of Social Robotics. Use of this accepted manuscript is subject to the SpringerNature Accepted Manuscript Terms of Use: https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms

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Work Title Robots for Future Classrooms
Subtitle A Cross-Cultural Validation Study of “Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale” in the U.S. Context
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Yu Xia
  2. Gerald LeTendre
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. International Journal of Social Robotics
Publication Date June 27, 2020
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-020-00669-2
Deposited November 18, 2021

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