Understanding the Influence of a Teachable Robot on STEM Skills and Attitudes

这个国家机器人倡议项目将为中学几何学生开发一个机器人学习环境，在那里，几何新手的学生将通过辅导类人机器人操作其手势和语音提示来学习新概念，以响应学生的话语和解决问题的行动。该项目基于这样的原则，即辅导行为可以带来动机方面的好处，如学生参与、对所学科目的积极态度和增加信心。在这一应用中，机器人既是学生可以编程的工具，也是智能响应的社会参与者。这一研究项目将吸引广泛不同的人群参与，旨在增加科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域中代表性不足群体的参与和留住。该项目的更广泛影响有三个组成部分：1)对机器人学习伙伴如何影响STEM态度和信心的科学理解，2)在研究过程中传统上代表性较低的群体的学生的学习，以及3)为教育和实验创建一个人-机器人互动平台。通过该项目发现的原则有望促进妇女和其他代表性不足的人群更多地参与STEM教育活动和STEM相关职业。本研究的目标是将机器人行为与中介激励因素和STEM结果联系起来，最终目的是了解如何操纵机器人行为以改善学习互动。拟议的研究将有助于理解如何将机器人学习环境设计为对STEM学习产生革命性影响。本研究以两个问题为指导：1)机器人行为如何影响学生的中介动机因素，并影响STEM技能和态度？2)机器人行为适应学生行为对中介变量、STEM技能和结果有何影响？为了找到这些问题的答案，该项目将采取三项举措：1)进一步开发NAoTAG(NAO有形几何活动)，作为一个平台，试验机器人行为的不同方面如何影响可教学代理环境中的学生与机器人互动；2)了解学生和机器人行为如何影响已确定的中介因素，以及STEM技能和结果；以及3)对学生与机器人互动进行建模。

This National Robotics Initiative project will develop a robotic learning environment for middle school geometry students where students who are novices in geometry will learn new concepts by tutoring a humanoid robot to manipulate its gestures and spoken prompts in response to student utterances and problem-solving actions. The project is based on the principle that the act of tutoring can lead to motivational benefits such as student engagement, positive attitudes toward the subject being studied, and increased confidence. In this application, the robot is simultaneously a tool that students can program and a social actor that intelligently responds. This research project will engage a broadly diverse population and is aimed at increasing the participation and retention of underrepresented groups in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). There are three components to the broader impacts of this project: 1) Scientific understanding of how robotic learning companions affect STEM attitudes and confidence, 2) Learning among students from traditionally underrepresented groups in the research process, and 3) Creation of a human-robot interaction platform for education and experimentation. The principles discovered through this project are expected to promote increased participation of women and other underrepresented populations in STEM educational activities and STEM-related careers.The goals of this research are to link robot behaviors to mediating motivational factors and STEM outcomes with the ultimate goal of understanding how to manipulate robot behaviors to improve a learning interaction. The proposed research will make contributions to understanding of how robotic learning environments can be designed to have a transformative impact on STEM learning. The research is guided by two questions: 1) How do robot behaviors influence students' mediating motivational factors and affect STEM skills and attitudes? And 2) What is the impact of adapting robot behaviors to student behaviors on mediating variables and STEM skills and outcomes? To find answers to these questions, the project will undertake three initiatives: 1) Further development of NaoTAG (Nao Tangible Activities for Geometry) to serve as a platform for experimenting with how different aspects of robot behaviors influence student-robot interactions within the teachable agent context; 2) Understand how student and robot behaviors influence the mediating factors that have identified, and STEM skills and outcomes; and 3) Modeling student-robot interactions.