IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021 - 94

(7.3%) prepared no special version of their class at the time of
data collection (Figure 4).
There was some variance in how different classes were set
up; however, the averages indeed describe a typical university
semester requiring around 8 h of work per week for 14 weeks
[mhrs(78) = 8.26, SD = 7.37; mweeks(76) = 14.43, SD = 5.90].
Of the courses, 54.2% are characterized as compulsory and
45.8% as elective.
We also sampled, or tried to sample, intended learning
outcomes (ILOs) in the survey. But while we had excellent
Finished
Planning Phase
Ongoing
No Adapted Version
11.5%
26%
7.3%
0102030405060
(%)
Figure 4. The status of the different teaching activities covered in
the survey. Most of the hands-on teaching activities were already
finished at the time of participation.
55.2%
response rates from the participants on all other
questions, there was a very low rate regarding ILOs. In
addition, most of the responses regarding ILOs were
simple statements regarding the specific robots or
software used in the courses. This is in line with the
observation in the educational research literature that
there is a strong tendency in educational robotics to
concentrate on technological features rather than
pedagogical goals [16].
The questionnaire was organized into blocks. The first
7.3%
block collected some basic demographic data about the participants
and their programs. The next two blocks asked the
participants to indicate which restrictions were put into
place by their governments and institutes because of
COVID-19. While we expected some regional effects, it
turned out that the responses and their effects were quite
similar on a global scale, e.g., promoting work from home
and restricting the access to on-campus facilities. For the sake
of brevity, we hence refrain from a discussion of these data in
this article. But it can be noted that participants were significantly
more satisfied with the way their institutions responded
to the COVID-19 pandemic [OrgSatisfied(96) = 5.33, SD
= 1.36; OrgResponse(96) = 5.24, SD = 1.18] than they were
about the way their local and national governments responded
to the pandemic [GovSatisfied(96) = 4.13, SD = 1.86, t(95)
= -5.94, p <0.001; GovResponse(96) = 4.16, SD = 1.64, t(95) =
-6.02, p < 0.001].
The fourth block of the questionnaire established what
Yes
No
92.7%
Figure 5. The vast majority of participants responded that their
teaching of practical robotics classes has been affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
teaching practical robotics classes involved before COVID-19.
More specifically, it asked what type of equipment is used in
the class, which student activities are most central to the class,
and how students are evaluated for their work. The next block
asked the same questions, but for the period during COVID19,
thus allowing a comparison of the pre- and poststates of
practical robotics teaching. The final block recorded the
instructors' attitudes toward the experience and their evaluations
of the outcomes.
30
25
20
15
10
5
Maximum
Negative
1234567
Neutral
Maximum
Positive
Figure 6. The distribution of the ratings of the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on teaching of the classes. Predominantly,
the effects were rated as being negative.
94 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * DECEMBER 2021
The Overall Impact of COVID-19
As can be expected, the vast majority (92.7%) of the
participants responded that their teaching of robotics
hands-on classes was affected by the pandemic (Figure 5).
Furthermore, our participants evaluated the overall
effects of COVID-19 on teaching practical robotics
negatively (Figure 6), with the mean [m(96) = 3.11, SD
= 1.34] settling significantly under the point of neutrality
on a seven-point Likert scale [t(95) = -6.49, p <
0.001]. Nevertheless, a minority (14.6%) of the participants
evaluated the overall effects of COVID-19 on
teaching quite positively (5 and 6 on our scale). As also
shown in Figure 7, there is a strong agreement among
the participants that the experience was not easy
[m(96) = 2.78, SD = 1.66].
Overall, participants reported that the experience of
teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic changed their
approach to teaching practical robotics [m(96) = 4.93,
(%)
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2021

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