EAGER: A Teachable Robot for Mathematics Learning in Middle School Classrooms

在机器人活动中，从理论上讲，学生可以从他们设定自己目标的“边做边学”活动中受益，但在实践中，这些活动未能对STEM结果产生预期的影响。为了改善从机器人学中学习，这个项目将利用可教学的代理技术，学生通过教授计算机代理来学习一个领域。代理与学生互动，揭露错误观念，鼓励他们在失败面前坚持下去。通过将可教学代理的结构与向机器人学习的探索性和参与性特征相结合，该项目将增强这两种方法的好处。研究人员将实现一个机器人，学生可以在中学数学课上教授他们正在学习的概念。他们将与老师和学生一起进行设计练习，以确定机器人的特征，这些特征可能对提高学生的学习动机和学习特别重要。最后，他们将进行两项研究，一项在实验室，另一项在教室，以探索学生在现实环境中对机器人的反应。智力优势：该项目将提高对学生对可教授数学的机器人的特征的理解，以及对这种机器人可能具有的潜在教育好处的理解。该项目将通过发明整合可教育代理和机器人学习环境的方法来做出技术贡献。广泛影响：该项目将影响来自代表性不足群体的中学生，他们将帮助设计和测试可教育机器人，让他们接触到新技术，并参与STEM职业生涯的方方面面。该项目还将使人们更好地了解可在课堂上接受教育的机器人的影响，并为这些技术在教育中更广泛地采用铺平道路。

In robotics activities, students are theorized to benefit from "learning-by-doing" activities where they set their own goals, but in practice, these activities have failed to produce the expected effects on STEM outcomes. To improve learning from robotics, this project will leverage teachable agent technologies, where students learn about a domain by teaching a computer agent. The agent interacts with students to expose misconceptions and encourage them to persist in the face of failure. By integrating the structure of teachable agents with the exploratory and engaging features of learning from robotics, the project will enhance the benefits of both approaches. The investigators will implement a robot that students can teach about the concepts they are learning in their middle school mathematics class. They will engage in design exercises with teachers and students to identify features of the robot that might be particularly important for improving student motivation and learning. Finally, they will conduct two studies, one in the laboratory and one in the classroom, to explore how students react to the robot in a realistic setting. Intellectual merit: The project will improve understanding of what features students respond to in a teachable robot for mathematics, and of the potential educational benefits such a robot might have. The project will make a technological contribution by inventing methods for integrating teachable agents and robotic learning environments.Broader impacts: The project will impact middle school students from underrepresented groups who will help design and test the teachable robot, exposing them to new technologies and engaging aspects of STEM careers. The project will also lead to a better understanding of the impact of teachable robots in the classroom and pave the way for these technologies to be adopted more widely in education.