An Investigation on Cooperative Learning Assistance with Pseudo Learner Agents

本计画主要探讨如何透过电脑网路协助学习者进行讨论式学习。我们通过实验研究了信息交换对学习者讨论态度的影响，并提出了一种从不同角度可视化讨论内容的合作学习工具。我们还提出了一种通过引入伪学习者代理来促进讨论的方法。我们研究了参与者的表情、遥控摄像机的眼动反馈以及共同工作领域的作用对学习者态度的影响。结果发现，通过监视器的眼动反馈，学习者对对手存在的感觉增加，共同的工作领域，分享材料是重要的讨论。通过讨论学习，提高学习者的理解，通过相互互动的主题。在这一过程中，学习者需要把握观点之间的异同，把握讨论的发展。在讨论后思考讨论的流程和参与者意见变化的原因等，也有助于提高讨论技巧。我们开发了一个讨论工具，可视化的讨论结构和意见的变化等，以协助这些类型的学习。通过实验验证了该工具的有效性，并提出了一种通过引入伪学习代理来激活讨论的方法。Agent不理解讨论的意义，但它从讨论工具中获得话语之间的因果关系，Agent的作用是将少数话语的学习者引入讨论，并利用这些关系关注隐藏的观点。

This project focuses on methods to assist learners in learning by discussion through computer network. We investigated effect of exchanging information against learners' attitude towards discussion by experiments, and proposed a tool for cooperative learning that visualizes contents of discussion from different viewpoints. We also proposed a method of promoting discussion by introducing pseudo learner agents.We investigated effects of expressions of participants, effects of feedback of eye movement by a remote control camera and roles of a common work field against learners' attitudes. As a result, we found that feedback of eye movement by a monitor increases learners feeling about existence of opponents, and a common work field to share materials is important for discussion.Learning by discussion improves learner's understanding about topics by interaction with each other. During this process, learners need to grasp similarity and difference between opinions and to grasp development of discussion. Thinking about streams of discussion and causes of participants' changes of opinions etc. after the discussion is also useful to improve discussion skills. We developed a discussion tool that visualizes structure of discussion and changes of opinions etc. in order to assist these kinds of learning. We evaluated the effectiveness of the tool by experiment.We proposed a method to activate discussion by introducing pseudo leamer agents. The agent doesn't understand meanings of discussion but it gets causal relations between utterances from the discussion tool.The roles of the agent are to introduce leamers of few utterances into discussion and to pay attention to buried opinions by using these relations.