Abstract
Physical robots could enable embodied interaction, contributing to more immersive learning environments. Embodied interactions help promote emotional connection, sustain attention, and support learning outcomes. Although many studies highlight the benefits of robots in education, their role in early childhood education (ECE) for children aged 3–8 remains largely unexplored. As children enjoy engaging with robots and often perceive them as learning companions, the use of AI robots may bring a new perspective for ECE. To maximize effectiveness, task-based learning was integrated with AI robots, encouraging children to acquire knowledge and skills by solving problems in authentic contexts. Therefore, this study proposed AI-robot-supported task-based learning in the context of preschool health education. To examine the effectiveness of this method, a quasi-experimental design was conducted with 42 Chinese children aged 5–6. Findings revealed that children in the AI-robot group demonstrated significantly higher levels of persistence and problem-solving abilities and greater emotional response. Moreover, they exhibited more active learning behaviors, suggesting that AI robots hold strong potential for fostering more effective and engaging preschool health education environments.
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Data availability
All anonymized datasets and analysis materials supporting the findings of this study are publicly available as supplementary materials accompanying this article. These materials include the raw questionnaire dataset, SPSS analysis syntax, variable codebook, behavioural sequence datasets for both experimental and control groups, the behavioural coding framework, and a methodological note detailing the parameters used in the sequential analysis conducted with GSEQ 5.1. All identifying information has been removed to ensure participant confidentiality.
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Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate all the ART Lab members including Dada Yang who participated in the data collection and helped during the research. Jia-Hua Zhao and Yi-Ting Lin have equally contributed to this article, and they should be considered as first authors. This work was supported by the Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China. Normal University and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
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JZ and YL: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, writing—original draft. QY: investigation, supervision, methodology. AYM: investigation, supervision, funding acquisition, data collection and analysis, writing—reviewing and editing.
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This study was reviewed and approved by the Committee for Human Research of East China Normal University, China (Approval No. 20240116, approved on 16 January 2024). The scope of the approval covered all research procedures involving children’s participation, data collection, and data analysis. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Written informed consent was obtained from the parents or legal guardians of all participating children before the study began. Members of the research team explained the study’s purpose, procedures, potential risks and benefits, data handling methods, and participants’ rights to the parents or guardians. They were informed that participation was voluntary and that withdrawal was possible at any time without any adverse consequences. Considering the young age of the participants, verbal assent was also sought from the children in an age-appropriate manner. Consent forms were distributed and collected in December 2024 at Jiangbin Kindergarten in Fujian, China. All data were anonymized prior to analysis, and no personally identifiable information was retained or disclosed.
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Zhao, JH., Lin, YT., Yang, QF. et al. Exploring the effectiveness of an AI-robot-supported task-based learning approach on children’s mastery motivation in preschool health education. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07035-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07035-z
