Miglino, Orazio, Henrik Hautop Lund, and Maurizio Cardaci. “Robotics as an educational tool.” Journal of Interactive Learning Research 10, no. 1 (1999): 25-47.
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This paper explores a new educational application of Piaget’s theories of cognitive development, that is, the use, as a teaching tool, of physical robots conceived as artificial organisms. By using simple assembly kits, students at all levels are able to project and construct real robots that simulate the behaviors of animals. The process of constructing real robots helps students to understand concepts about complex dynamic systems-in particular how global behavior can emerge from local dynamics. This is done through a construction process. In order to obtain a given behavior students modify both the “mind” and the body of artificial organisms. The construction of populations of artificial organisms helps the students to realize the difference between observing behavior at the individual (microscopic) level and at the population (macroscopic) level. The development of a population of robots with a given behavior is an evolutionary process. The selective reproduction of a population of robots is a powerful tool for teaching the Darwinian theory of evolution: experiments using artificial-as opposed to biological-organisms make it possible to rapidly observe the results of selection, reproduction and mutation. The paper reviews a number of educational projects using real robots. It is shown that the use of intelligent systems to enlarge our view of biological reality could become an integral part of curricula in science, technology, psychology, and biology.