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...t supervision (according to George A. Kelly, one of the founders ofsconstructivist psychology, “every man is, in his own particular way, a scientist”, whose goalsis to predict and control events, see =-=Kelly, 1955-=-; in pursuit of this objective, each individualsformulates, in her/his own way, hypotheses to explain physical and social phenomena,sdeveloping assystem ofs“personal constructs” through which s/hesvie...

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...g the behavior ofsthe robot. Children were allowed to freely interact with the LEGO robot which the supervisorshad programmed in advance with NXT-G software to function as a Braitenberg-like vehicles(=-=Braitenberg, 1986-=-), designed along the lines of Brook’s subsumption architecture (Brooks,s1986). Three different vehicles, each with a different control program, were used at threesdifferent sessions: they may be info...

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...is to say, of the word that typically initiates explanation processes.sPhilosophical analyses of the notion of “explanation” presuppose not only that there aresvarious different types of explanation (=-=Nagel, 1961-=-), but also that there are various types ofsexplanation requests (van Fraassen, 1980). More precisely, a question such as “why doesssystem S generate behavior B?” may be interpreted as a question rega...

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...ral repertoire, due to the richness of environmentalsconditions, has been extensively discussed by Braitenberg (1986) and Simon (1969), and bysGrey Walter in connection with his cybernetic tortoises (=-=Walter, 1950-=-).sThis behavioral variability makes the process of explanation particularly stimulating,sespecially when the robot is observed – as in the present case-study – “in the wild”, that is tossay, on the f...

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...cribe the mechanisms underlying behaviors in asparticular class of systems, while ultimate explanations typically describe the evolutionary orsdevelopmental process which has produced that mechanism (=-=Craver, 2007-=-).sEducational robots may help children reflect on the distinction between these alternativesinterpretations of the “why” question (that reflect the distinction between the different typessof question...

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...hts into what it is forschildren “to explain” something – such insights could usefully be discussed in relation to thesgeneral epistemological literature on scientific explanation, see Psillos, 2002; =-=Ladyman, 2002-=-;sBrockman, 2004). The fact that robot behaviors may be explained without making referencesto specific scientific disciplines promotes a focus – at least in principle and under conditionssto be carefu...

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...teresting insights into what it is forschildren “to explain” something – such insights could usefully be discussed in relation to thesgeneral epistemological literature on scientific explanation, see =-=Psillos, 2002-=-; Ladyman, 2002;sBrockman, 2004). The fact that robot behaviors may be explained without making referencesto specific scientific disciplines promotes a focus – at least in principle and under conditio...

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...issues concerning scientific research methodology, including the concepts ofs“explanation”, “hypothesis” and “experiment”. This possibility has rarely been explored insthe literature. Exceptions are (=-=Sullivan, 2008-=-), which discusses cases of explanation of roboticsbehaviors by children during program debugging, and (Mioduser et al., 2007) (as well assother studies carried out by the same research group at Tel-A...

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...nt”. This possibility has rarely been explored insthe literature. Exceptions are (Sullivan, 2008), which discusses cases of explanation of roboticsbehaviors by children during program debugging, and (=-=Mioduser et al., 2007-=-) (as well assother studies carried out by the same research group at Tel-Aviv University), which directlysexamines children’s understanding of robot behaviors. The objectives and the results ofsthese...

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...sofsthesrobotsfromsbuilding materials and the design and implementation of a control program enabling thesrobot to perform a spatial or sensory-motor task (Cincelli et al., 2010; Norton et al., 2006;s=-=Denis, 2001-=-). Constructing a robot poses a number of challenges that require students tosdraw on their abstract thinking and problem solving abilities – for instance to reflect on thesavailable resources (in ter...

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...thesphysicalsassemblysofsthesrobotsfromsbuilding materials and the design and implementation of a control program enabling thesrobot to perform a spatial or sensory-motor task (Cincelli et al., 2010; =-=Norton et al., 2006-=-;sDenis, 2001). Constructing a robot poses a number of challenges that require students tosdraw on their abstract thinking and problem solving abilities – for instance to reflect on thesavailable reso...

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...ative problem solving abilities, as well asssupporting learning in the various specific scientific, literary and artistic disciplinessprescribed by standard school curricula (Bredenfeld et al., 2010; =-=Catlin & Balmires, 2010-=-). In astypical educational robotics laboratory, students are required to construct a robotic system,swheres“construction”sissunderstoodsassbothsthesphysicalsassemblysofsthesrobotsfromsbuilding materi...

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...act thinking and collaborative problem solving abilities, as well asssupporting learning in the various specific scientific, literary and artistic disciplinessprescribed by standard school curricula (=-=Bredenfeld et al., 2010-=-; Catlin & Balmires, 2010). In astypical educational robotics laboratory, students are required to construct a robotic system,swheres“construction”sissunderstoodsassbothsthesphysicalsassemblysofsthesr...

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...sissunderstoodsassbothsthesphysicalsassemblysofsthesrobotsfromsbuilding materials and the design and implementation of a control program enabling thesrobot to perform a spatial or sensory-motor task (=-=Cincelli et al., 2010-=-; Norton et al., 2006;sDenis, 2001). Constructing a robot poses a number of challenges that require students tosdraw on their abstract thinking and problem solving abilities – for instance to reflect ...

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...perimental setting and try to neutralize undesired sources ofsdisturbance (this has interesting implications on the relationship between explanation,sgeneralizations and idealization, as discussed in =-=Datteri & Laudisa, 2010-=-, and Datteri, 2010, insconnection with robot-supported investigations of biological behaviors). In the current case-sstudy, the children progressively acknowledged the role of potential environmental...

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...he robot to asminimum and, in the majority of cases, avoided correcting mistaken beliefs and erroneoussLearning to explain: the role of educational robots in science education 33shypotheses proposed (=-=Nigris, 2009-=-). After this initial observation/description step, the robotswas placed on the classroom floor and the first control program activated. At each of the twossubsequent laboratory sessions, vehicles 2 a...