This Research Full Paper presents a pedagogical approach to evaluate a virtual platform for teaching robotics at a distance. The virtual environment was developed using the principles of Collaborative Learning. This virtual platform, called groupware, should facilitate interaction between those involved in the teaching and learning process, whether the student or the teacher. In this research, we will use Educational Robotics as a mediating tool in the teaching and learning process, because it has become a powerful tool that has stimulated the acquisition of knowledge in computing. In the groupware used in this research, Multi-Agent Systems were used to collaborate with teachers in the management of activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functionality and usability of this virtual environment. A qualitative, exploratory research was used and to assess the usability of this virtual environment, the usability evaluation techniques were used with the Syetem Usabily Scale metric, and the technique of evaluation of feelings through EmoCards. Ten computer teachers participated in this research, with training and specializations in the areas of computing. Collaborative Learning was used as a focus for solving the tasks proposed for this research. The results showed that the participants evaluated the groupware with great potential to collaborate in robotics teaching and with content appropriate to the students' initial level of learning. The teachers' perceptions regarding the usability of the evaluated groupware revealed that it is favorable in the teaching of robotics and allowed an analysis of the importance of collaborative learning in the educational environment, directly impacting their ways of conducting learning.

This is a Full Paper on Research-to-Practice that presents the result of the application of a mediation model to the teaching-learning process of kinematic concepts in remote experimentation. Kinematics was proposed for the development of the work, as it deals with fundamental concepts of Physics, which is a science directly related to STEM education. For the execution of the model, a remote access laboratory was designed, implemented, and evaluated. The model was applied to high school Physics students and can be extended to other levels of education. The remotes interactions followed an organization proposed by the mediation model. The research was based on the mediation of Vygotsky and Zone of Proximal Development The system has been tested and evaluated by students and teachers.

This Research Full Paper presents a proposal for a pedagogical approach to be applied to educational robotics on a virtual distance learning platform, to foster teaching and learning, knowledge sharing and interaction between teachers and students. Recent studies indicate that 21st century students can master different skills and competencies to achieve success in their education, among which we highlight collaborative learning and educational robotics. One of the resources which successfully employ collaborative activities is groupware, which is a virtual collaborative system that supports groups of people with common tasks or objectives and enables the management of group activities. Many research works show that educational robotics has become an important facilitating and motivating tool for students entering Computer-focused courses. Literature has shown that both tools are important for the application of a STEM approach and have led to good results in an educational environment. To analyse the learning perceptions of educational robotics in a collaborative environment, we have developed a pedagogical approach that relies on collaborative learning through a groupware called IGARA, developed on Moodle platform. Activities made available by the virtual environment were developed based on constructivist, interactionist principles, with task contextualization to enhance students' perception. In order to assess the functionality of such an approach, an exploratory study was carried out with a set of 14 students, divided into 3 groups, spatially distant due to Covid-19 pandemic safety measures. Preliminary results were very promising and groupware was well accepted by participants.

This Research Fully presents an approach to reducing the school dropout rate in Computer Technician courses, using robotics as a pedagogical tool. In a school context, the field of computer programming is considered the most important, because it contains concepts that form the basis of computing. However, few people can easily learn programming. Studies show that difficulties in assimilating programming concepts cause discouragement, and consequently lead to school dropout. In the face of this scenario, Educational Robotics has proved to be an important tool in expanding the STEM approach, in addition to presenting itself as a tool to motivate programming learning. With the goal of motivating students to stay in school, and to get a good start in learning programming, an approach called Arduino Baby was developed and employed, which uses Educational Robotics through the Arduino platform. It was structured and carried out in 4 main stages. During the execution, an integrating project was applied, the methodology of which included the creation of student teams, the distribution of bibliographic materials and kits, practice performance, and the exhibition of the developed works. At the end of the research, questionnaires were given, and semi-structured interviews were conducted for participating students, in order to find out the degree of motivation obtained. Results showed to be promising, and that they can be allies in the fight against school dropout.

This Research Full Paper presents a method to select Learning Objects based on students' cognitive profiles, aiming to facilitate the explained content understanding and programming skills improve. STEM approach has favored the programming skills development in Computer Science courses. Due to initial concepts complexity, many students find it difficult to understand this discipline, causing demotivation or course abandonment. We propose a method using Petri Nets formalism to select a Learning Object that addresses the subject being studied. Petri Nets are formal description techniques used to specify competing systems through graphical and mathematical modeling. Intelligent Agents are computer programs created to automate and perform a certain task or direct interaction with student and propose solutions considered appropriate, based on based on knowledge obtained during the interactions. This research uses the Petri Net to create an Intelligent Agent model, which chooses the Learning Object from answers obtained by applying VAK, an educational questionnaire and results obtained shown to be promising and method was well evaluated by students.

This Research Full paper presents a Systematic Mapping Study of actions that are being carried out in the academic environment, aiming at teaching robotics and programming through collaborative procedures at a distance. Recent studies point to an increasing utilization of collaborative activities in teaching-learning process of robotics and programming, favoring the STEM fields, with encouraging results regarding the improvement of student's skills and better use of educational institutions infrastructure. Our goal is to collect information about state of the art on collaborative learning, employed through Groupware. To carry out this investigation, goals were defined by the Systematic Mapping Process, with the purpose of providing a better process understanding. The Research Questions were stipulated to be answered after the results analysis and the Search Strings, which allowed to select publications that satisfy the objective of this research articles in main digital repositories, all carried out in the last 5 years. After applying filters, 22 articles were considered more relevant according to the research objective. The results show the activities, modalities, methodologies, accomplished pedagogical concepts and the conclusions obtained. This work aims to assist researchers who seek information on referred topic.

This Full Paper of Research Practice Category presents a proposal for the mediation of learning through a remote access experiment. The proposal is targeted at Physics students at Secondary School and provides students with a reflective experience about basic kinematics concepts from the actual execution of experiments. The mediation experience will allow interaction between students and teacher, especially when there is a need for student orientation in experimental activities. The project is based on Vygotsky's ideas on learning with mediation, support and the Zone of Proximal Development. A feasibility study was conducted with a group of experienced Physics teachers, and a prototype was implemented.