Learning Effects of Programming Educational Board Game in Collaborative Learning between Robots and Humanities Students

In recent years, programming education has become a mandatory component of the curriculum in elementary, junior high, and high schools. In this context, numerous educational institutions are employing board games that facilitate the teaching of programming thinking. The advantages of board games include the ability to learn in a stress-free environment while engaging in collaborative play, which can stimulate a desire to learn. However, board games inherently require the presence of an opponent to play with, and the opponent is not always at home. Consequently, this study developed an educational support robot to play programming education board games with students. The experiment investigated the learning effects of playing against this robot on college students who had no prior experience with programming. The results indicated that competing against the robot provided higher learning effectiveness for college students compared to competing against human opponents.