TY - JOUR
T1 - Shallow strategy development in a teachable agent environment designed to support self-regulated learning
AU - Roscoe, Rod
AU - Segedy, James R.
AU - Sulcer, Brian
AU - Jeong, Hogyeong
AU - Biswas, Gautam
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by funds from the Department of Education CASL program ( R305H060089 ) and a NSF REESE Award ( 0633856 ). The authors are grateful to Clifford Cockerham and Greg Hutchings for their generosity and contributions to this project. Appendix A
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - To support self-regulated learning (SRL), computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) are often designed to be open-ended and multidimensional. These systems incorporate diverse features that allow students to enact and reveal their SRL strategies via the choices they make. However, research shows that students' use of such features is limited; students often neglect SRL-supportive tools in CBLEs. In this study, we examined middle school students' feature use and strategy development over time using a teachable agent system called Betty's Brain. Students learned about climate change and thermoregulation in two units spanning several weeks. Learning was assessed using a pretest-posttest design, and students' interactions with the system were logged. Results indicated that use of SRL-supportive tools was positively correlated with learning outcomes. However, promising strategy patterns weakened over time due to shallow strategy development, which also negatively impacted the efficacy of the system. Although students seemed to acquire one beneficial strategy, they did so at the cost of other beneficial strategies. Understanding this phenomenon may be a key avenue for future research on SRL-supportive CBLEs. We consider two hypotheses for explaining and perhaps reducing shallow strategy development: a student-centered hypothesis related to "gaming the system," and a design-centered hypothesis regarding how students are scaffolded via the system.
AB - To support self-regulated learning (SRL), computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) are often designed to be open-ended and multidimensional. These systems incorporate diverse features that allow students to enact and reveal their SRL strategies via the choices they make. However, research shows that students' use of such features is limited; students often neglect SRL-supportive tools in CBLEs. In this study, we examined middle school students' feature use and strategy development over time using a teachable agent system called Betty's Brain. Students learned about climate change and thermoregulation in two units spanning several weeks. Learning was assessed using a pretest-posttest design, and students' interactions with the system were logged. Results indicated that use of SRL-supportive tools was positively correlated with learning outcomes. However, promising strategy patterns weakened over time due to shallow strategy development, which also negatively impacted the efficacy of the system. Although students seemed to acquire one beneficial strategy, they did so at the cost of other beneficial strategies. Understanding this phenomenon may be a key avenue for future research on SRL-supportive CBLEs. We consider two hypotheses for explaining and perhaps reducing shallow strategy development: a student-centered hypothesis related to "gaming the system," and a design-centered hypothesis regarding how students are scaffolded via the system.
KW - Human-computer interface
KW - Intelligent tutoring systems
KW - Interactive learning environments
KW - Self-regulated learning
KW - Teaching/learning strategies
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U2 - 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.11.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84871782560
SN - 0360-1315
VL - 62
SP - 286
EP - 297
JO - Computers and Education
JF - Computers and Education
ER -