Automated pitch convergence improves learning in a social, teachable robot for middle school mathematics

Nichola Lubold, Erin Walker, Heather Pon-Barry, Amy Ogan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pedagogical agents have the potential to provide not only cognitive support to learners but socio-emotional support through social behavior. Socio-emotional support can be a critical element to a learner’s success, influencing their self-efficacy and motivation. Several social behaviors have been explored with pedagogical agents including facial expressions, movement, and social dialogue; social dialogue has especially been shown to positively influence interactions. In this work, we explore the role of paraverbal social behavior or social behavior in the form of paraverbal cues such as tone of voice and intensity. To do this, we focus on the phenomenon of entrainment, where individuals adapt their paraverbal features of speech to one another. Paraverbal entrainment in human-human studies has been found to be correlated with rapport and learning. In a study with 72 middle school students, we evaluate the effects of entrainment with a teachable robot, a pedagogical agent that learners teach how to solve ratio problems. We explore how a teachable robot which entrains and introduces social dialogue influences rapport and learning; we compare with two baseline conditions: a social condition, in which the robot speaks socially, and a non-social condition, in which the robot neither entrains nor speaks socially. We find that a robot that does entrain and speaks socially results in significantly more learning.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationArtificial Intelligence in Education - 19th International Conference, AIED 2018, Proceedings
EditorsManolis Mavrikis, Carolyn Penstein Rosé, Bruce McLaren, H. Ulrich Hoppe, Rose Luckin, Kaska Porayska-Pomsta, Benedict du Boulay, Roberto Martinez-Maldonado
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages282-296
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9783319938424
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018
Event19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2018 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: Jun 27 2018Jun 30 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10947 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period6/27/186/30/18

Keywords

  • Convergence
  • Entrainment
  • Pitch
  • Rapport
  • Teachable robot

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Automated pitch convergence improves learning in a social, teachable robot for middle school mathematics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this