An investigation of the relationship between K-8 robotics teams´ collaborative behaviors and their performance in a robotics tournament

This study investigated the relationship between robotics team members´ collaborative behaviors, communication and coordination in particular, during hypothetical challenges and their teams´ actual performance during physical robotics challenges. Dataset included robot performance, robot design, research project, core values, and collaboration quality scores for 61 K-8 Robotics teams (N = 366) that participated in a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Championship in 2015. Our analysis primarily focused on how well the collaboration quality scores predict team performance across different categories. Results indicated that the level of collaboration quality among team members is significantly associated with the team performance in the robotics tournament.