"Doing well" in the Teaching for Robust Understanding approach revealed by the lens of the semiotic potential of tasks with the GGBot

In this paper we report on experiences we have provided students in a grade-3 classroom with the aim of introducing concepts in plane geometry through interaction with the GGBot, a drawing robot that can be programmed with SNAP! Blocks. We do this to explore the effectiveness of the use of a new theoretical approach that combines the Teaching for Robust Understanding Framework with the Theory of Semiotic Mediation. We claim that the articulation between the two frames is not only feasible but also insightful, providing an a priori analysis of two tasks, and a detailed analysis of a short excerpt from the corresponding Didactic Cycle.