STEM education refers to the integration of the four subject disciplines of science, technology, engineering and maths although it has grown to include other subjects leading STEM to be replaced by STEAM (the A referring to the arts). However, while the primary intention of this programme was to improve the teaching and learning of the STEM subjects through robotics, there has been a reported improvement in the development of other skills (critical thinking, collaborative working, problem solving, computational thinking, creativity, motivation and cooperation). These skills are transferrable to the study of other non-STEM subjects and into the world beyond the classroom.

This paper reports on the development of a programme in Northern Ireland on the use of robotics to improve student motivation to study the STEM subjects and to improve the soft skills much in demand by employers.

The first robots used in this programme were relatively simple electro-mechanical machines which introduced learners to the application of robotics in environments that are hostile to humans (space exploration, radioactivity) and on their control via a joystick. Codable robots were introduced in the later stages of the programme and students learned the principles of coding through their interaction with the robots.

The paper also considers the use of the "white box" paradigm by which a constructive/constructivist approach enables the learners to build, modify and code their robots to perform tasks rather than being provided with the robot fully assembled and already programmed or coded.

Keywords: STEM, robotics, coding.