An Analysis of Research Trends in the Use of Social Robots in Early Childhood Institutions
AUTHOR : 김수정, 이보람, 서혜민
INFORMATION : page. 1~16 / 2023 Vol.30 No.1
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to analyze research trends in the use of social robots in early childhood institutions. A total of 38 research publications published in South Korean journals from 2008 to 2022 were analyzed in the criteria of publication trends and features of research. As a result, the number of publications was the highest in 2011 to 2013, decreased thereafter, and recently showed a tendency to increase again. In terms of research topics and participants, child-directed programs and child-robot interaction studies were the most common, followed by teacher’s attitudes and perceptions of robot use. Research methods were biased according to the research subject, and Genibo and IrobiQ were the most used robots. The period of robot use ranged widely and the frequency of robot use generally decreased as the period of robot use became longer. Based on these findings, although research on the use of social robots in early childhood institutions has recently increased, research needs to be conducted actively through cooperation with other disciplines and to be supplemented in the aspects of research topics, participants, and methodologies.