Enhancing language and socio-emotional skills in pre-school children: a multisensory itinerary with the Thymio robot.

In today’s world, educational robotics is widely recognized and has primarily been assessed for its contribution to the development of computational thinking, with a significant emphasis on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) skills. However, successful international examples confirm its benefits for motivation, collaboration, and inclusivity, which facilitate the acquisition of new skills and attitudes necessary for making responsible choices and acting responsibly in everyday life. This study aims to investigate the impact of a school itinerary based on the use of educational robots in preschool children’s cognitive and transversal skills. Specifically, the Thymio robot was employed as a learning mediator to promote language and socio-emotional skills among students aged from 4 to 6 years old in nursery school. Thymio is a versatile small robot with a neutral appearance that can be used with students of all ages and, in this study, it was used leveraging its six pre-programmed behaviors, each associated with a color. Indeed, innovative use of the robot has contributed to fostering school readiness, which consists of a set of skills essential for primary school and predictive of future school success. This work presents a playful itinerary based on multisensory teaching, group activities, and the use of the Thymio robot, which played a central role in different materials created ad hoc for the laboratory (e.g., it becomes a character of different narratives). These materials constitute the educational kit designed and produced to support the itinerary: it includes two picture books, nursery rhymes, puzzles, models, podcasts and cartoons. A series of lessons were planned for the itinerary, each with specific organizational, didactic, and teaching objectives. The lessons progressively increase in difficulty, initially focusing on language dimensions and later incorporating scientific and emotional aspects, all while considering social aspects. The research methodology is based on a between-subject design, where Control Groups (CG) and Experimental Groups (EG) were tested using two assessment tools from Erickson’s catalog: the “SR 4-5 School Readiness” test and the “I know my emotions” questionnaire. Furthermore, during the treatment phase, the EG participants were observed by experts using tools specifically designed to investigate their socialization, while the CG engaged in the usual didactic activities proposed by teachers. At the end of the learning path, after approximately 3 months, both groups were re-tested using the same assessment tools. The study was replicated three times, involving a total of 72 children aged 4 to 6 y. o. from two nursery schools in Turin. Both studies yielded positive results, which were supported by numerous documentation, including photos, videos, a logbook, and other observational tools as required by the experimental plan. The promising results emphasize the effectiveness of the itinerary and demonstrate the potential of educational robotics in developing students’ skills, even at the early stages of schooling.