2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Investigating the Usefulness of Robots as Educational Resources in High School Science: Aiding Students to Obtain Measurement Data That Are Easy to Examine Using the Kalman Filter

Presented at Industry and Technical Engineering Education

This study proposes a robot-based teaching tool with an integrated data acquisition and analysis support system to facilitate the understanding of motion concepts in physics education. Since sensor noise might increase cognitive load and degrade conceptual understanding, the system applies Kalman filtering for automatic data correction in the background. This allows students to interpret experimental results more intuitively, without explicit awareness of the noise reduction process. To evaluate the system, robot-based acceleration experiments integrated with programming exercises were conducted in our classroom. Through hands-on data collection and analysis, students developed a more concrete understanding of the fundamental laws of motion. The results indicated improvements in both the clarity and reproducibility of measurement data, along with positive effects on students’ conceptual comprehension and perceived learning experience. In future work, the system’s applicability will be extended to a broader age range, and its educational effectiveness will be systematically evaluated.

Authors

Saki Taguchi Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Saki Taguchi is currently an undergraduate student in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) in Japan. Her main research is interface robots.
Kasumi Hoshino Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Kasumi Hoshino is currently an undergraduate student in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) in Japan. Her main research area is an optical lens.
Yutaro Tsuchida Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Yutaro Tsuchida is currently an undergraduate student student in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) in Japan. His main research is small robotic hands.
Sogo Fujita Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Sogo Fujita is currently an undergraduate student in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) in Japan. His main research is object detection algorithm using ultrasonic sensors.
Prof. Hatsuko Yoshikubo Ph.D. SHIBAURA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY [biography]

Dr. Hatsuko Yoshikubo obtained Ph. D. in English Literature from Chiba University in Japan in 2002. She is currently a Professor of Humanities and a senior departmental administrator, currently attached to the Innovative Global Program in the College of Engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology, a highly-ranked engineering university in Tokyo. Innovative Global Program (IGP) is an engineering degree program incorporating humanities components, with a student body consisting mainly of international students (https://igp.shibaura-it.ac.jp).

As part of her current role as Deputy Director of the IGP, she is the Principal Investigator for the following research grants:
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research: Grant 24K06133 (2024-2027)
- Shibaura Institute of Technology Grant for Educational Reform and Research Activity (AY2024).

Her research interests include:
(1) Impacts and potential benefits of including humanities components in science and engineering degree programs
(2) Innovative methods of assessment in science and engineering education, especially in the context of remote learning, hybrid courses, and collaborative international programs
(3) Solving systematic issues that impact the effectiveness of science and engineering education programs, in both in-person and remote learning contexts.

In recent years she has been a presenter at the following international conferences:
World Educational Research Association (WERA):
WERA Conference 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE):
APAIE Conference 2022, 2023,
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE): Annual Conference 2022, 2023, 2024
International Institute of Applied Informatics (IIAI): International Conference on Data Science and Institutional Research (DSIR) 2023

Awards:
SIT's Presidential Award 2023
ASEE 2023: Multidisciplinary Engineering Division’s 'Best Diversity Paper' Award
DSIR 2021: 'Outstanding Paper' Award
Prof. Sumito Nagasawa Ph.D. in Engineering http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4684-2898 Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Prof. Dr. Sumito Nagasawa received Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2001. He is a Professor in Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at SIT. His research interests include miniaturized robots using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems technologies and robot education for STEAM.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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