ROBOTICS COMPETITION-BASED LEARNING FOR 21ST CENTURY STEM EDUCATION

This article proposes the Robotics Competition-based Learning (R-CBL) in the 21st century learning environment to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. This study has an attempt to highlight the connections between the STEM disciplines as well as the integration of 21st-century competencies to spark students’ interest towards the STEM. The problem statement revealed in this article is Malaysia may soon experience a serious human capital deficiency in the STEM field. Thus, it is important to practice a new pedagogy for 21st century integrated STEM education. The objectives of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of R-CBL to increase students’ interest towards STEM in “Robot Olympics Malaysia 2018”. The finding in this research shows the educational robotics as the digital tool can promote STEM learning among secondary school students. In conclusion, by practising Robotics Competition-based Learning in 21st century STEM classroom, learners are expected to have attentiveness in the integrated STEM curriculum. The implication of this pedagogy is to bridge the gap between the expected curriculums, written curriculum, and taught the curriculum. Keywords: robotics, competition, STEM education, 21st century