Development of Educational Program Using Drones for School Autonomous Hours and Its Impact on Enhancing Student Agency

This study aims to develop and implement a drone-based education program for 4th-grade elementary school students during school autonomous hours and to evaluate its impact on student agency. This involved surveys of the educational community and analyses of school infrastructure and characteristics. Using the ADDIE model, a 22-session program was developed. Pre- and post-tests measuring student agency were administered to an experimental group (17) and a control group (32). Additionally, reflections and self-assessment journals from the experimental group were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings are summarized as follows: First, the democratic consensus within the educational community played a key role in the design and implementation of the program. By synthesizing the inputs from students, parents, and teachers, a drone education program aligned with environmental and sustainable development education was developed. The program’s activities included theory and piloting practice based on safety education, using drones to solve school problems, and lessons on career and ethics. This process contributed to a sense of responsibility and cooperation among all stakeholders, especially boosting student motivation and interest in learning while maximizing the program’s effectiveness. Second, the analysis of pre- and post-test results on student agency in both the experimental and control groups, as well as the progression reflected in self-assessment journals, revealed improvements across all four domains of student agency—community agency, learning interaction, purposefulness, and responsibility. Third, the study demonstrated the potential of the developed drone education program as a valuable resource for school autonomous hours. It provided a learning experience where students took the initiative to participate, reorganizing the drone utilization from a briefly covered topic in practical arts or creative classes into 22 lessons to cover related contents in depth and foster cooperation within the educational community. The study found that the developed program positively impacted elementary school students' agency. Moreover, the materials are expected to serve as useful references for developing drone programs for elementary school students and structuring autonomous school hours.