2026conference

Making Robot Programming Visible through Solvable Tasks and Classroom Practice

Suyu Jiang, Renze Zhao, Haozhe Ruan, Torres Pui Hong Ngai, Cong Wu, Aquil Mirza Mohammed

The Joint Conference of the 25th International Conference on Web-Based Learning and the 11th International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Education (ICWL–SETE 2026)

Country/Region: Spain

Abstract

Students new to programming can struggle to connect commands with robot movement. This browser platform lets them program a simulated hair cutting arm with blocks, inspect the cut and revise their program. Early tasks used geometric targets without a program showing that each target could be reached. The revised generator uses reference-program results as targets, giving each task a known solution. On a 2,134-waypoint path, browser and server tool-tip positions agree within 1 over a million. This confirms agreement for the tested path. Two three-hour sessions with 30 students of mixed programming experience revealed missing cutting instruction and barriers to continued practice. These observations led to a cutting lesson and changes to practice and competition. The 1,615 log records cover one classroom day and other use. None of 21 adaptive sessions reached the precision required to link practice and competitive item calibration. In 13 reconstructed rounds, exact target matches were common on authored items and less frequent on two generated items.

Affiliations

Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR · University of Science and Technology Beijing, China · The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR · Liaoning Technical University, China

Status: Accepted – ICWL–SETE 2026, Tenerife, Spain (EasyChair Submission 6543; November 30–December 3, 2026)

Keywords

Hair cutting robotConstructionismBlock-based programmingDigital twinComputerized adaptive testingAutomatic item generationRobotics education

BibTeX

@inproceedings{jiang2026making,
  author = {Jiang, Suyu and Zhao, Renze and Ruan, Haozhe and Ngai, Torres Pui Hong and Wu, Cong and Mohammed, Aquil Mirza},
  title = {Making Robot Programming Visible through Solvable Tasks and Classroom Practice},
  booktitle = {The Joint Conference of the 25th International Conference on Web-Based Learning and the 11th International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Education},
  year = {2026},
  address = {Tenerife, Spain},
  note = {Accepted; EasyChair Submission 6543},
  keywords = {Hair cutting robot, Constructionism, Block-based programming, Digital twin, Computerized adaptive testing, Automatic item generation, Robotics education}
}