**4. Research design**

A second-grade class of 25 students completed two different STEM challenges that involved the use of a social robot. At the conclusion of the challenge the students reflected upon their experiences using FlipGrid®—a video discussion platform. The students were able to hold their physical projects that they constructed as they recorded their reflections. The responses of the students were transcribed, coded, and categorized to explore possible themes to describe students" thinking throughout STEM challenges.

The students were provided with a STEM challenge to create a drawbridge that would be strong enough to hold at least 21 plastic elephants. At the beginning of the challenge, the students were introduced to the vocabulary using Virtual Reality (VR) exploration of different real-world bridges. As the students progressed through Nearpod® VR the teacher and social robot, Robon from RoboKind®, provided a guided a think aloud and helped develop content-specific vocabulary. The students used Creation Crate® TechCard® Bridge Kits. Creation Crate® TechCard® are recycled materials that used by young students to create and design different things. Further, the teacher read aloud *Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing* by April Jones Prince. The students were able to spend up to 5 minutes reflecting using a video recording.

Another STEM challenge involved building a working crane. The students were able to learn about cranes by exploring VR on Nearpod®. Robon from RoboKind®, was coded and used throughout the challenge to provide a think aloud to support the challenge. The students were provided with Creation Crate® TechCard® Crane Kit. The kit involves the use of air pistons to move the crane. The students added the Crane to SAM Labs® Kit. SAM Labs® include wireless Bluetooth blocks that connect to the app. The students were able to use the blocks to add lights, movement, and sound to the crane.

### **4.1 Research procedure**

Fifty video responses recorded in FlipGrid® were transcribed to explore students experiences when completing two different STEM challenges. The transcriptions included 20 minutes of responses. Only two segments of data were removed the study because the student was unaware that they were continuing to record, and the recording did not connect to the topic.
