Effects of summer robotics activities in libraries on children’s interest in robotics and STEM career

As technology advances and the demand for STEM workers increases, libraries are evolving to meet the changing needs of their communities. One way they do this is by providing robotics education opportunities for children. However, there is limited research on robotics education in public libraries, and there is a lack of adequate evaluation methods for assessing the impact of informal STEM learning. This pilot study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of conducting summer robotics activities in UK public libraries and the questionnaire design used to assess children’s interest in robotics, STEM and STEM careers. Over three weeks, eight robotics activities were conducted in Leeds Libraries, with eighty-one children aged between 6 and 13 from the Healthy Holidays Programme in Leeds participating. The results of the paired samples t-test showed that the children’s interest in robotics and related careers significantly increased from the pre-test to the post-test. However, the robotics activity had little influence on children’s STEM and STEM related career. This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the need for further research on robotics education in public libraries and the development of better questionnaires that can be well comprehended by primary students and better evaluate the impact of the informal learning experience. Nonetheless, this study shows that libraries can play a vital role in fostering technology literacy in communities.