Rethinking Digital Sciences through FIRST® LEGO® League

Digital Sciences is a recently established subject in Luxembourg's lower secondary education designed to foster students' digital competence, critical thinking, and responsible use with technology. While the curriculum covers six ambitious pillars, including programming, data, robotics, AI, and machine communication, its implementation remains largely text-based and teacher-dependent. Limited instructional time, constrained infrastructure, and the coexistence of badges with conventional grading further reduce its potential to cultivate meaningful, hands-on learning. This presentation explores whether integrating the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL), an international, project-based robotics and STEAM programme, can enhance the pedagogical effectiveness of Digital Sciences. Working with a class of 26 students over approximately 38 hours of instruction, the project engages learners in teamwork, robot construction and programming, iterative problem-solving, and the documentation of their learning through digital diaries and self-reflection. Grounded in constructivist and connective learning theories (Dewey, 1938; Papert, 1980; Siemens, 2005), this approach aims to activate the curriculum's practical dimensions while fostering creativity, collaboration, and deeper digital competence development.