Social Robotics and Engineering Students: Do They Match? Does Culture Matter?

This study investigates the level of familiarity and interest of students towards social robotics through a survey conducted with the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Students at Heriot-Watt University in the UK and Electrical Engineering Students at Xidian University in China. The result...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social robotics 2020-11, Vol.12 (5), p.1149-1157
Main Author: Erden, Mustafa Suphi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer engineering
Computer science
Control
Electrical engineering
Engineering
Engineering education
Mechatronics
Qualitative analysis
Robotics
Students
Survey
University students
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Summary:This study investigates the level of familiarity and interest of students towards social robotics through a survey conducted with the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Students at Heriot-Watt University in the UK and Electrical Engineering Students at Xidian University in China. The results indicate that whereas there is no significant difference in the level of familiarity within the three groups of students and no significant difference in the level of interest between the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Students at Heriot Watt University, there is a statistically significant difference in the level of interest towards social robotics between the Heriot-Watt University and Xidian University Students. Xidian University Students demonstrate a higher level of interest towards social robotics. The qualitative analysis shows that many of the Xidian University Students are willing to perceive and have robots as companions whereas none of the Heriot-Watt University Students show such or similar tendency. This observation indicates that cultural background plays a significant role in interests and preferences of the students towards social robotics.
ISSN:1875-4791
1875-4805
DOI:10.1007/s12369-019-00615-x