Manuel Blázquez

dblp:83/9783 · also Manuel Blázquez-Merino · DBLP profile ↗
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18ranked-venue papers
4as first author
3since 2021 · last 2021
0000-0002-6462-9196ORCID · corroborated

Domains — the database's venue-derived domains; a paper can count in several

Human-computer interaction and ubiquitous computing · 17 · 3 first-author · 3 since 2021Applied, interdisciplinary, general and emerging computing · 12 · 3 first-author · 3 since 2021Software engineering, systems software and programming languages · 1 · 1 first-author
YearPublicationVenuePosition
2021 Build your own robot
abstract
This Research to Practice Full Paper presents a pilot test framed in educational robotics where parents and child work together during the same session. In recent years, an educational movement has emerged that is related to the introduction of computational thinking, programming, and robotics in schools. Educational robotics is presented as one more resource that serves as a support in the different curricular subjects and facilitates the emergence of skills such as socialization, creative spirit and personal initiative, allowing participants to find answers to the problems that may arise in their reality. It is for this reason that a pilot test was carried out where we included the participants' parents in a session. To do this we used the Crumble controller, a platform that is programmed using block programming language. This platform also allows making electrical connections in an amazingly simple way. From the mechanical point of view, we use materials that can be easily machined, both by children and by inexperienced people. At the end of the experience, the assistants completed the assembly of their own robot. The article contains a study of the state of the art of using educational robotics. It also includes an analysis of the different tools mostly used in educational robotics. Also, throughout the article the learning methodology used, the different educational resources and the results obtained from the experience are described.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Manuel Castro 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Félix García Loro, Rosario Gil 0001, Antonio Menacho, Manuel Blázquez, Blanca Quintana, Sergio Martín 0001, Francisco Mur Perez, Alejandro Macho, Pablo Baizán, Ramón Carrasco Borrego, Germán Carro Fernandez, África Lopez-Rey, Clara María Pérez Molina, Russ Meier 0001, Edmundo Tovar
EDUCON7
2021 Promoting Computational Thinking through Visual Block Programming Tools
abstract
Computational Thinking is a competence that is developed more in the last few years. This is due to the multitude of benefits it has in the classroom. Throughout this article we show a series of activities that promote the development of Computational Thinking using tools that allow visual block programming. The particularity of these activities is that some of them were performed during the confinement due to the COVID-19 and other activities were performed later, in the period known as the new normality. Throughout the article, details are provided about the different sessions. The different visual programming tools by blocks and the educational scenarios used are also indicated. In addition, the results obtained are shown.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Manuel Castro 0001, José-Manuel Sáez-López, Elio San Cristóbal, Rosario Gil 0001, Antonio Menacho, Félix García Loro, Blanca Quintana, Sergio Martín 0001, Manuel Blázquez, Alejandro Macho, Pablo Baizán, Francisco Mur Perez, Germán Carro Fernandez, Clara María Pérez Molina, Ramón Carrasco Borrego, África Lopez-Rey, Miguel Rodríguez-Artacho, José A. Ruipérez-Valiente
EDUCON10
2021 Gender and STEAM as part of the MOOC STEAM4ALL
abstract
This paper presents findings on participants of a massive open online course named "Educational Robotics for all" developed under Open edX platform. The document describes the organization and structure of the MOOC and some of its preliminary results. As an example, Module 2 about Gender and STEAM is presented and discussed.
Carina Soledad González-González, Alicia García-Holgado, Pedro Plaza 0001, Manuel Castro 0001, Aruquia B. M. Peixoto, Julia Merino, Elio San Cristóbal, Antonio Menacho, Diana Urbano, Manuel Blázquez, Félix García Loro, Maria Teresa Restivo, Rebecca Strachan, Paloma Díaz 0001, Inmaculada Plaza, Cristina Fernández, Susan M. Lord, Diane T. Rover, Rosanna Yuen-Yan Chan, Melany M. Ciampi, Russ Meier 0001, Edmundo Tovar, Magdalena Salazar, Susan Zvacek, José A. Ruipérez-Valiente, Blanca Quintana, Sergio Martín 0001, Guillermo Botella Juan, África Lopez-Rey, Paulo Abreu
EDUCON10
2020 Experimental Didactic Proposal using VISIR Remote Laboratory to Learn Diode-Based Circuits
abstract
A didactic experience is presented focused to a group of secondary school to learn the main features of the topic of diode-based circuits. Students have followed the experience by means of a MOOC in which didactic activities and practices have been designed using the Cognitive Motor Model taxonomy. VISIR remote laboratory is the main technical resource to carry out practices.
Manuel Blázquez, Clara María Pérez Molina, Manuel Castro 0001, Félix García Loro, Elio San Cristóbal, Edmundo Tovar, Sergio Martín 0001
COMPSAC1
2020 Visual block programming languages and their use in educational robotics
abstract
Visual block programming environments can be defined as those programming environments that rely on objects rather than words to code the program. These types of environments are characterized by facilitating the task of the people who carry out the programs. This is mainly since they are more visually friendly. In addition, with this type of environment the person who makes the programs will not get the famous syntactic errors that characterize the programming tasks with textual programming languages. Along this paper, a set of tools commonly used in educational robotics are showed. Furthermore, a deep analysis in two of these tools are detailed. Additionally, some educational scenarios are detailed, as long as their relationship to students’ competencies and how to drive the scenarios in order to accomplish with the competencies. Finally, a study of the results from experience is included.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Aruquia B. M. Peixoto, Elio San Cristóbal, Manuel Castro 0001, Manuel Blázquez, Antonio Menacho, Félix García Loro, Germán Carro Fernandez, Mónica Muñoz, Alejandro Muñoz, Sara Muñoz, César Muñoz, Blanca Quintana, África Lopez-Rey
EDUCON5
2020 Science and Technology Educational Quality Scaling in Spain
abstract
This Research Full Paper presents a survey about science and technology education scaling. At the end of 2013, the Spanish government released an Organic Law for Educational Quality Improvement (LOMCE). Which this law provides is a guide with the aim of getting information about the changes which this law implies and what is impacted. All of this is based on gender equality opportunities. Education curriculum simplification is also included. This article describes the goals, assumptions, and underlying logic about Spanish legislation change has impacted on science and technology education. The aim of this study is to provide learning technologies to drive science and technology education to students. This study includes an analysis of local scope in the modifications of the Spanish educational legislation and data on the actions of different educational agents in Spain. Several educational centers emerged, and other, which already was present, have been growing. In the last years, educational institutions had the need to prepare their teachers for science and technology knowledge. Several educational centers and robotic educational tools commonly used nowadays are summarized. Additionally, the analysis of different use cases has been included as part of this study. Firstly, cases related to the formal education of Spanish educational centers and how the educators of such centers have perceived the change. On the other hand, a specific analysis of a Non-Official Education Centre is included. Thus, as part of the conclusions included in this article, this paper provides the impact of educational scaling improvement in Spain and a set of robotic educational tools to be addressed for classroom.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Sergio Martín 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Manuel Blázquez, Manuel Castro 0001, Gabriel Díaz 0001, María Jesús Labarias, Félix García Loro, Blanca Quintana, Juan Pedro Franco, Clara María Pérez Molina
FIE4
2019 STEM and Educational Robotics Using Scratch
abstract
Educational robotics applied to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities combined with a project-based learning (PBL) methodology provides quite good results. Throughout this work it is described how to make use of Scratch, a visual programming environment, as a cost-effective tool with great potential for students to work on concepts related to robotics. When students work with Scratch, they can develop animations or video games in which real life applications are simulated. In this paper you can find the description of the intermediate Scratch module. This module is part of an introductory robotics course consisting of the use of three tools (Scratch, Crumble and Arduino) and three difficulty levels (basic, intermediate and advanced). In addition, the results obtained for the Intermediate Scratch module and a discussion of the most important aspects related to the findings obtained are also provided.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Germán Carro Fernandez, Manuel Blázquez, Félix García Loro, Mónica Muñoz, Maria Jose Albert, Belén Moriñigo, Manuel Castro 0001
EDUCON4
2018 Structured MOOC designed to optimize Electricity learning at Secondary school
abstract
The contents, hereby introduced, show a methodology to teach electricity to Secondary school students. As secondary teachers, one of the highest worries is to recognize the level of significance in learning in our students. Significance means permanent learning and thus, the assimilation of a solid basis conducts to make easier to understand knowledge in higher levels as our students are growing up. As a consequence of these worries, a structured massive open online course has been developed to optimize the assimilation of basic concepts, magnitudes and skills in relation with Electricity contents. The works in relation with the quantification of learning is written in this paper as well in order to show how good our students are learning and what the most important difficulties they find.
Manuel Blázquez, Alejandro Macho, Pablo Baizán, Félix García Loro, Elio San Cristóbal, Gabriel Díaz 0001, Manuel Castro 0001
EDUCON1
2018 Scratch day to introduce robotics
abstract
Scratch Day is made up of a global network of events. Its main goal is to bring people together to celebrate Scratch. Scratch is a free encryption platform that can be used online and offline for children. Scratch Day events bring together young people from the Scratch community. During these meetings, attendees share projects, learn from each other and welcome newcomers. Robotics and computational thinking are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. Currently, innovation and motivation of students during the learning process are promoted by educational robotics tools. Robots are increasingly integrated into our society. To such an extent that robots are becoming more and more common in our everyday environment. This paper presents a workshop which is focused on two main objectives. The first one is to celebrate Scratch Day promoting Scratch locally. On the other hand, this event is aimed to present a robotic educational tool for people as the first step to get into robotics world. This workshop is aimed on those adults who want to discover what possibilities Scratch brings in the introduction to robotics. Throughout this workshop an initiation to Scratch is developed in the context of educational robotics. As the most significant results throughout the workshop, it is clearly demonstrated that Scratch is an ideal tool for children and adults with no previous programming or robotic experience to begin learning both through hands-on experiences. Throughout this work the importance of combining theory and practice is shown in order to include fun tasks intertwined with the challenges of applying theory to problem solving.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Germán Carro Fernandez, Manuel Castro 0001, Manuel Blázquez
EDUCON5
2018 Traffic lights through multiple robotic educational tools
abstract
Robotics and computational thinking are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. A multitude of educational robotics tools have emerged in recent years. Some with a high price and great features, and others with a lower price and lower performance. There are also cost-effective options that allow you to tailor your services to tighter budgets. The presence of robots in our daily lives is becoming more and more common. Therefore, it is interesting that we are oriented to integrate robots in the different levels of our society. This workshop is focused on driving the same content across three different low-cost robotic educational tools. The first one is Scratch, interactive stories, games and animations can be programed. The second tool is Crumble, it is an easy-to-use programmable controller. Its programming interface uses a block programming language which eases its use by children aged below 14. The last but not the least is Arduino, Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It is a platform that incorporates a simple microcontroller and an interface development environment to create the applications to be downloaded into the board. This workshop is aimed to present the mentioned platforms as robotic educational tools for people as the first step to get into robotics world. Throughout this workshop an initiation to robotics is developed in the context of educational robotics.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Germán Carro Fernandez, Manuel Castro 0001, Manuel Blázquez, Aruquia B. M. Peixoto
EDUCON5
2018 Robotics tips and tricks for inclusion and integration of students
abstract
Robotics and computational thinking are valuable tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy, and to promote inclusion and integration of students. We currently have a multitude of robotic education tools at our disposal. These tools arise with the aim of promoting innovation and student motivation during the learning process. Robots are becoming more and more common in our society today. Therefore, it is important to integrate robots into all levels of our everyday life. This work is focused on presenting Raspberry Pi as enhancer of educational robotics. The first step is presenting robotics as a tool for promoting the inclusion and integration of students. For this work a background and overview is also provided. The third part proposed different setups to prepare a Raspberry Pi for remote activities and robotics using Arduino as hardware interface. The last but not the least is an open discussion with the aim of exchanging impressions and getting feedback from the attendees.
Aruquia B. M. Peixoto, Manuel Castro 0001, Manuel Blázquez, Sergio Martín 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Germán Carro Fernandez, Pedro Plaza 0001
EDUCON3
2018 Diversity and inclusion in engineering education: Looking through the gender question
abstract
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field in general, and Engineering, suffer from a lack of diversity. Yet there is growing evidence that more diverse organizations are more successful and effective. There is also a global shortage of STEM and engineering skills that can be tackled by addressing the lack of diversity in the field. One obvious way to view this problem is by looking at gender. Women make up 50% of the population, but in Engineering the number of female students and professionals is clearly less than this, often around 10–25% in many parts of the world. This underrepresentation of women leads us to think about other groups that are underrepresented in Engineering; these include Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and those from socially deprived backgrounds. This paper examines a number of approaches to support diversity and inclusion to encourage a greater uptake of engineering by underrepresented groups and to retain people in the sector.
Aruquia B. M. Peixoto, Carina Soledad González-González, Rebecca Strachan, Pedro Plaza 0001, María de los Ángeles Martínez, Manuel Blázquez, Manuel Castro 0001
EDUCON6
2018 Crumble Day to introduce robotics
abstract
Crumble is an easy-to-use programmable controller. Its programming interface uses a block programming language that makes it easy for children above 10 to use. In addition, the hardware elements associated with Crumble are very intuitive and easy to connect. For this reason, educational robotics can be easily implemented thanks to the card connectors. The motors and servos can be managed by Crumble. Different sensors such as the ultrasonic distance sensor, infrared distance sensor and line sensor can also be connected. In addition, Crumble can handle up to 32 RGB (Red, Green and Blue) LEDs (Light Emitter Diodes) independently and with 24-bit color resolution. Robotics and computational thinking are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. Today, robotics training tools are raised with the aim of promoting innovation and motivation of students during the learning process. Robots are becoming more and more common in our daily lives; therefore, it is important to integrate robots into all levels of our society. This document presents a workshop that focuses on two main objectives. The first is to make an event to promote Crumble locally. On the other hand, the aim of this event is to present a robotic teaching tool so that people can take their first steps in the world of robotics. This workshop is aimed at those children and adults who want to discover the possibilities that Crumble brings in the introduction to robotics. An introduction to Crumble in the context of educational robotics is developed throughout this workshop.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Germán Carro Fernandez, Manuel Blázquez, Elio San Cristóbal, Manuel Castro 0001, Félix García Loro
FIE3
2018 Multiplatform Educational Robotics Course to Introduce Children in Robotics
abstract
Robotics and computational thought are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. Throughout this paper a modular and adaptive course is presented, the main objective of which is to make known simple and economic tools of educational robotics. This course is aimed at those who want to discover the possibilities of educational robotics in the context of the introduction to robotics. Today, robotics training tools are raised with the aim of promoting innovation and motivation of students during the learning process. Robots are becoming more and more common in our daily lives; therefore, it is important to integrate robots into all levels of our society. The course is designed to work with the Scratch, Crumble and Arduino tools as STEM enhancers. Using Scratch, interactive stories, games and animations can be programmed. Scratch helps young people to acquire and improve skills such as think creatively, think systematically, and work collaboratively. Scratch is a project of MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten Group. It is offered free of charge. On the other hand, Crumble is an easy-to-use programmable controller. Its programming interface uses a block programming language based on Scratch that makes it easy for children from 10 years old to use it. In addition, the hardware elements associated with Crumble are very intuitive and easy to connect. Last, but not least, Arduino is an open source electronic platform based on hardware and software that is easy to use. It is a platform that incorporates a simple microcontroller and an interface development environment to create the applications to be downloaded on the board. The course offers a three-tiered journey through three levels with each of the three tools. It consists of a total of 9 modules. This course has a very practical approach. A project-based pedagogical methodology is used. Experiments are promoted, where trial and error are part of learning and self-discovery. The student learns to have more autonomy and responsibility. Knowledge is acquired in different disciplines. It develops: motor skills (scale mobility in the hands), group skills, allowing people to socialize, creative abilities, and learning in a fun way. The operational details, materials used and examples of activities for some modules are also presented with the expectation that all teachers will be able to adapt these activities in their class. In addition, results are included from several groups of students who have already completed some modules. Despite not having a large number of students, the experience provided results that may be useful for other teachers to promote a course with similar or equal content for more results. The results of this work show that it is important to combine theory and practice to include fun tasks intertwined with the challenges of applying theory to problem solving.
Pedro Plaza 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Germán Carro Fernandez, Manuel Castro 0001, Manuel Blázquez, Félix García Loro
FIE5
2017 Dynamic reconfiguration in FPAA and its use in education
abstract
The purpose of this article is to study the dynamic reconfiguration in FPAA and, because of its potential, its academic applications. State driven and algorithmic reconfiguration methods have been considered during this work. Since these devices are not as well-known as FPGA, it is interesting to study its characteristics and abilities. The algorithmic method has been developed, obtaining conclusions about its use in education for technical and non-technical fields.
Alejandro Macho, Manuel Garcia Teruel, Pablo Baizán, Manuel Blázquez, Félix García Loro, Elio San Cristóbal, Gabriel Díaz 0001, Rosario Gil 0001, Manuel Castro 0001
FIE4
2015 InnoEscuela, innovation in secondary school technical studies
abstract
InnoEscuela is more than a learning experience, a programmed methodology to implement courses related to Technology and Computing which follows an innovative way of teaching. The methodology focuses on Project-based learning and team work. Students organize themselves in teams which are called innovative enterprises and they have to decide to create a solution to a social disadvantage, technical problem, or any other kind of need they perceive. That's why the core of the courses is focused to practice the whole Technological Innovation process.
Manuel Blázquez, Federico Baeza, Manuel Castro 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Pablo Losada, Germán Carro Fernandez, Salvador Ros 0001, Javier García-Zubía
FIE1
2014 Educational games for improving the teaching-learning process of a CLIL subject: Physics and chemistry in secondary education
abstract
The use of educational games in an academic context seems to be a superb alternative to traditional learning activities, such as drill-type exercises, in order to engage 21st-century students. Consequently, this work tries to raise the following objectives: analyze the effectiveness of game-based learning, characterize game elements that may contribute to create playing experiences, comprehend how different player types interact with games and, finally, design interactive games which may create challenges, set goals and provide feedback on progress while motivating learners to study physics and chemistry in a foreign language in the second cycle of Secondary Education (4thE.S.O. that corresponds to the age of 15-16 years old). Specifically, we have used several Web 2.0 tools (Hot Potatoes, Scratch, What2Learn and SMART Notebook 11) and applications (Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel) in order to create the games; and these games are based on the successive contents: laboratory safety, laboratory equipment, stoichiometry, atomic structure, electronic configuration, the periodic table, forces, motion and energy.
Raquel Rodriguez, Manuel Blázquez, Beatriz López 0003, Manuel Castro 0001, Elio San Cristóbal, Sergio Martín 0001
FIE2
2013 Teaching technology with CLIL methodology: A case study
abstract
Bilingual English education is increasing in Spain, and especially in Madrid Region. The number of Universities, High Schools and Primary School is higher each year and the demand from Society about this kind of education has made the amount of students involved to grow up exponentially throughout the last decade. In the present paper, the experience in the last two years in the department of Technology of Institute “Ramiro de Maeztu” is described in relation with the technical education of the students attended. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is the methodology applied to common bilingual subject, but in the case of pre-engineering studies, the methodology is combined with a new perspective of Technology subject focused in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Manuel Blázquez, Julian Santos, Germán Carro Fernandez, Gabriel Díaz 0001, Manuel Castro 0001, Miguel Latorre, Inmaculada Plaza, Francisco J. Arcega Solsona
EDUCON1