Kamini Jaipal-Jamani

About

Kamini Jaipal-Jamani is a leading voice in STEM teacher education, whose research centers on how educational robotics and makerspaces can transform science learning and computational thinking in K-12 classrooms. Her most influential work, "Effect of Robotics on Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Science Learning, and Computational Thinking" (2016, 266 citations), established a foundational link between hands-on robotics activities and improved teacher confidence and content knowledge. Building on this, she has systematically investigated how scaffolded programming scripts and guided interventions can prepare preservice teachers to integrate STEM problem-solving into their future classrooms. Her longitudinal study (2018) and subsequent work on scaffolded versus self-guided approaches (2023) demonstrate a sustained commitment to understanding the conditions that best support teacher development. Jaipal-Jamani’s research is particularly notable for its practical focus: she not only identifies the barriers teachers face in teaching STEM skills but also provides evidence-based strategies—such as using robotics to teach coding and engineering design—to overcome them. Her work has directly informed curriculum design in Ontario, Canada, and continues to shape how teacher education programs worldwide prepare educators for the demands of integrated STEM instruction.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Effect of Robotics on Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Science Learning, and Computational Thinking

   266 citations · 2016
2. 2
   Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Promote Computational Thinking in School Classrooms

   20 citations · 2018
3. 3
   Preservice teachers’ science learning and self-efficacy to teach with robotics-based activities: Investigating a scaffolded and a self-guided approach

   8 citations · 2023
4. 4
   Makerspace and robotics as/for STEM education

   5 citations · 2022
5. 5
   Developing Pre-service Teachers’ Self-efficacy and Science Knowledge through a Scaffolded Robotics Intervention: A Longitudinal Study

   4 citations · 2018
6. 6
   Developing Teacher Self-Efficacy to Teach Science and Computational Thinking with Educational Robotics: Using Scaffolded Programming Scripts

   4 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Educational Robotics and Preservice Teachers: STEM Problem-Solving Skills and Self-Efficacy to Teach

   2 citations · 2024
8. 8
   Using Educational Robotics (ER) to Promote STEM Problem-Solving in Preservice Teachers

   1 citations · 2024

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links