GSE/RES: Pedagogical agents as social models: Challenging gender-related stereotypes of engineering

GSE/RES：作为社会模型的教学主体：挑战与性别相关的工程学刻板印象

• 批准号: 0429647
• 负责人: Elizabeth Ashby Plant
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Florida State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-15 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0429647&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GSE; RES; Pedagogical; agents; social

Florida State University will study the effectiveness of pedagogical agents as social models to influence girls' beliefs and stereotypes about engineering, the potential for using pedagogical agents to change beliefs.Many females have negative and unconstructive beliefs regarding engineering. As stated by Muller (2002), these misperceptions are prompted by a social fabric that pervades our society and results in stereotypic perceptions of engineering and scientific fields as "geeky" and particularly inappropriate for girls and women. Consequently, young women need more exposure to productive beliefs about engineering, ideally through some form of a social model (e.g., Bandura, 1986). While human models can help to bridge the gap, the logistics of arranging such opportunities are difficult to coordinate, and available mentors may not necessarily best match a particular young women's needs. By implementing computer-based social models, factors can be controlled that cannot be in human mentors, with a greater potential for outreach through avenues such as the Internet. Pedagogical agents, which are three-dimensional, animated computer-based characters, are particularly advantageous for serving as such models given that there is strong evidence that students, particularly females, easily develop social relationships with them. However, there is limited evidence to guide the design of such agents for the purpose of influencing beliefs about engineering.The goals of this interdisciplinary project are as follows: 1) to systematically investigatethe effectiveness of pedagogical agents as social models to influence girls' beliefs and stereotypes about engineering; and, in parallel, 2) to use pedagogical agents as a vehicle to systematically examine the nature of the belief-changing process. Two populations, representing two age groups (middle school girls, and freshman female undergraduates from both a traditional and a historically-Black institution), will be sampled for the research. Three types of research designs (Choice, Construction, and System-Controlled Studies (experimental and adaptive)) will be implemented to provide a more integrative understanding. Specifically, the first year will focus on investigating agent appearance; the second year on agent message/delivery; and, the third year on agent persona (combined factors). Dependent variables include student beliefs about and motivation toward engineering, intentions to pursue engineering, and perceptions of the agent. Dependent variables will be assessed by a combination of self-report (e.g., Likert-scale items), performance, and behaviorally-indicated measures.Intellectual Merit. Given that little is known as to the affordances and learner preferences for pedagogical agents as social models, this project is critical for advancing several interdisciplinary fields (e.g., instructional systems, social psychology, human-computer interaction, education/training, ecommerce and marketing, and game designers). By integrating multiple research approaches, the project is creative and original and draws on the two PIs' experience conducting pedagogical agent and social psychology research. Importantly, it will provide insight for influencing females' beliefs and stereotypes regarding engineering. Results will also complement ongoing development of pedagogical agents and other technology-mediated learning, such as intelligent tutoring systems. Along this line, the research will also help better illuminate the social impact of agents as an information technology, which is important given that society is becoming increasingly more information-driven.Broader Impact. It is expected that the project will build a strong empirical research base in this area with guidelines for designing agents to support engineering (or other types of) belief adoption. These findings will have the potential to broadly influence computer interface design, agent implementations in learning environments, and have marketing-related implications for other projects that involve "selling" engineering to females. Based on the findings, the next step would be to develop and implement a highly competent (e.g., artificially intelligent) and persuasive agent that would positively impact young women's beliefs about engineering.

佛罗里达州立大学将研究教学行为体作为影响女孩对工程的信念和刻板印象的社会模式的有效性，以及使用教学行为体改变信念的潜力。许多女性对工程有着消极和不具建设性的看法。正如Muller（2002）所说，这些误解是由我们社会中普遍存在的社会结构引起的，并导致对工程和科学领域的刻板印象是“令人讨厌的”，特别不适合女孩和妇女。因此，年轻女性需要更多地接触有关工程的生产性信念，最好是通过某种形式的社会模式（例如，Bandura, 1986）。虽然真人模特可以帮助弥补这一差距，但安排这种机会的后勤工作很难协调，而且现有的导师不一定最符合某一年轻女性的需求。通过实施基于计算机的社会模型，可以控制人类导师无法控制的因素，通过互联网等途径进行推广的潜力更大。教学代理是基于计算机的三维动画角色，作为这样的模型尤其有利，因为有强有力的证据表明，学生，尤其是女性，很容易与他们建立社会关系。然而，有有限的证据来指导这些代理人的设计，以影响对工程的信念。本跨学科项目的目标如下：1)系统地调查教学主体作为社会模式影响女生对工程的信念和刻板印象的有效性；同时，2)使用教学代理作为一种工具，系统地检查信念改变过程的本质。代表两个年龄组的两个人群（来自传统和历史上的黑人机构的中学女生和大一女本科生）将被抽样进行研究。三种类型的研究设计（选择、构建和系统控制研究（实验性和适应性））将被实施，以提供一个更综合的理解。具体来说，第一年将重点调查代理人的外貌；第二年代理消息/交付；第三年是代理人角色（综合因素）。因变量包括学生对工程学的信念和动机，追求工程学的意图，以及对代理人的感知。因变量将通过自我报告（如李克特量表项目）、表现和行为指示措施的组合来评估。知识价值。鉴于对教学代理作为社会模型的能力和学习者偏好知之甚少，该项目对于推进几个跨学科领域（例如，教学系统、社会心理学、人机交互、教育/培训、电子商务和营销以及游戏设计师）至关重要。通过整合多种研究方法，该项目具有创造性和原创性，并借鉴了两位pi进行教学代理和社会心理学研究的经验。重要的是，它将为影响女性对工程的信念和刻板印象提供见解。研究结果还将补充正在进行的教学代理和其他技术中介学习的发展，如智能辅导系统。沿着这条路线，这项研究也将有助于更好地阐明作为信息技术的代理人的社会影响，鉴于社会正变得越来越受信息驱动，这一点很重要。更广泛的影响。预计该项目将在该领域建立一个强大的实证研究基础，并提供设计代理以支持工程（或其他类型）信念采用的指导方针。这些发现将有可能广泛影响计算机界面设计，学习环境中的代理实现，并对其他涉及向女性“销售”工程的项目具有与市场相关的影响。基于这些发现，下一步将是开发和实施一个高度胜任的（例如，人工智能）和有说服力的代理，这将积极影响年轻女性对工程的信念。