Defining innovation literacy: do robotics programs help students develop innovation literacy skills?

Abstract

There has been an invalidated belief among educators that the robotics activities would improve the innovation capacities of students. The current study addressed the need to conceptualize the innovation literacy idea while the specific purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of a robotics program designed for improving the innovation literacy skills of economically disadvantaged students from underrepresented groups. Participants of the study were 11th grade students from an inner city charter school in Texas (N = 31; 15 female, 23 African American, and 8 Hispanic). In this quantitative study, the paired sample t-test showed statistically significant improvement in science literacy skills of Hispanic students and mathematics and science literacy skills of African American students. The findings implied that more controlled learning environments for students from underrepresented groups would be beneficial.