David Arnau
Papers
2
Total Citations
7
H-Index
2
About
David Arnau’s research lies at the dynamic intersection of mathematics education, early childhood learning, and educational robotics. He investigates how young children develop mathematical thinking and metacognitive skills through tangible programming tasks, particularly using floor robots like Bee-bot. His major contributions include demonstrating that block-based programming environments can serve as effective contexts for problem-solving in early primary education, making abstract mathematical concepts accessible to children as young as five years old. In his highly cited 2018 work, Arnau showed how robotics-based tasks can be framed as mathematical problems suitable for early school ages. His 2024 study, employing a sequential mixed-methods design with 82 pupils, provided groundbreaking insights into metacognitive control—how 5- to 6-year-olds plan, monitor, and evaluate their problem-solving strategies while directing floor robots. This work has garnered attention for bridging computational thinking and mathematical cognition in early childhood. Though his citation counts are modest (4 and 3 respectively), Arnau’s research is pioneering in its focus on the youngest learners, offering practical frameworks for integrating programming into early mathematics curricula. His work is essential reading for educators and researchers interested in how embodied, play-based robotics can nurture foundational problem-solving abilities.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2