Introducing K-12 Teachers to LEGO Mindstorm Robotics Through a Collaborative Online Professional Development Course

In recent decades, engineering and robotics programs such as First Lego League (FLL) have allowed children ages 9 to 14 to deeply engage with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines and inspired them to explore careers in STEM fields. In 2009, NASA awarded Georgia Tech a contract to develop online professional development (PD) courses for STEM teachers. Electronic professional development (ePDN) courses are designed to model best practices in teacher PD by incorporating inquiry-based learning and by promoting the types of active interaction and reflection by participants that normally occur in effective face-to-face professional development sessions. In this study, the collaborative online courses and their impact on teachers' professional development are described. Additionally, a case study approach was employed to examine the effectiveness of online PD courses in classrooms and schools. Each teacher experience after completing the robotics course was presented as a case, and each case was used to explore the impact of robotics courses on teacher practices.