An Investigation on Cooperative Learning Assistance with Pseudo Learner Agents

本课题主要研究如何通过计算机网络辅助学习者进行讨论式学习。我们通过实验考察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。我们还提出了通过引入虚拟学习主体来促进讨论的方法，考察了参与者表情的影响、遥控摄像头眼动反馈的影响以及共同工作领域对学习者态度的影响。结果发现，监视器对眼球运动的反馈增加了学习者对对手存在的感觉，共享材料的共同工作领域对于讨论非常重要，讨论式学习通过相互互动提高了学习者对话题的理解。在这一过程中，学习者需要把握观点之间的异同，把握讨论的展开。在讨论后思考讨论的流程和参与者改变观点的原因等，也有助于提高讨论技巧。我们开发了一个讨论工具，可以可视化讨论的结构和观点的变化等，以帮助这些类型的学习。通过实验对该工具的有效性进行了评估，并提出了一种通过引入伪学习代理来激活讨论的方法。主语并不理解讨论的意义，但它从讨论工具中获取话语之间的因果关系。主语的作用是将少发言的学习者引入讨论，并利用这些关系注意隐藏的观点。

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.