Pedagogical agent

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Pedagogical agents

Meaghan Lister, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Definitions and background

Pedagogical agents are animated life-like characters used in electronic learning environments with which learners can interact and have meaningful conversations (Veletsianos and Miller, 2008; Bowman, 2012; Theodoidou, 2011). They have human-like characteristics including emotions, reactivity and speech (Velesianos, 2010; Theodoidou, 2011) and coordinate speech and narration with gaze and gestures (Dunsworth and Atkinson, 2007).

Pedagogical agents are used in educational programs from preschool to university and serve in various helping roles such as virtual health coaches and information guides (Clarebout, Elen, and Johnson, 2002; Haake and Gulz, 2008). They can be used for many purposes including advising, tutoring, coaching, demonstrating, and modelling (Scroeder and Adesope, 2012; Mahmood and Ferneley, 2006) and as a learning companion or peer who encourages and motivates learners to put more effort into learning (Kim and Baylor, 2006; Yanghee and Baylor, 2006 ).

Pedagogical agents are designed to support learning and instruction in an electronic learning environment, (Veletsianos and Miller, 2008; Schroeder and Adesope, 2012) and can adapt their level of support to the individual needs of the learner (Clarebout et al., 2002). They can be used to guide learners to engage in learning activities (Lin, Chen, Wu, and Yeh, 2008).

Affordances

A pedagogical agent creates an environment that mimics the human-like classroom social interaction in a (Kim and Baylor, 2006; Theodoidou, 2011; Phan, 2011) that is typically missing from electronic learning environments (Phan, 2011). “Using an animated pedagogical agent with verbal and non-verbal features fosters information processing because students naturally perceive the learning process as social and respond more engagingly” (Dunsworth and Atkinsons, 2007, p. 688). This interaction helps to create a positive learning environment (Bodenheimer et. al., 2009) and enhances learner engagement (Veletsianos and Miller, 2008).

In addition to creating a positive learning environment, pedagogical agents allow teachers to provide individualized instruction to learners that is tailored to the learners’ learning abilities, rate of learning, and needs (Mao and Li, 2010; Bowman, 2012; Morozov, Tanakov, and Bystrov, 2004). Pedagogical agents can scaffold learning and determine learning paths for students (Miao, Engler, Giemza, Weinbrenner, and Hoppe, 2012). They can explain content in an alternative manner, rephrase content, and provide diagrams, animations and text to support a student’s individual learning style (Mahmood and Ferneley, 2006). Unlike in an Internet search where learners must sift through information to locate exactly what they are looking for, with pedagogical agents, learners can pose questions and receive targeted answers similar to what they would receive from their classroom teacher (Bowman, 2012). Some learners are more comfortable conversing with a pedagogical agent than with their classroom teacher, which may result in learners posing questions of the pedagogical agents that they would not otherwise ask in the classroom (Hong, Chen, and Lan, 2012). This interaction between learner and pedagogical agents, reduceed student anxiety about mathematics in grade seven and eight students (Van Eck, 2006).

Pedagogical agents are always available and, thus, minimize the limitation presented by large class sizes which can restrict the amount of time a teacher has available to assist individual students (Sahimi et al., 2010) and allow students the opportunity to access his or her own “teacher” at any time (Bowman, 2012). Feedback and coaching provided by pedagogical agents can be timely and instantaneous allowing students to work more effectively in an asynchronous environment and outside of the classroom (Sahimi et al.).

In addition to convenient access, when combined with speech recognition software, pedagogical agents can tutor second-language learners providing them with an opportunity to practice their skills and receive feedback (Morton and Jack, 2005). Unlike humans, pedagogical agents do not tire or become frustrated with repeated prompting or reteaching, and can provide unlimited corrections and feedback to learners (Morton and Jack, 2005).

Links

Instructional Design – Pedagogical Agents and Tutors
Design-A-Plant Will Put Virtual Teacher in Classrooms
Pedagogical Agents
Pedagogical Agents on the Web
The role of pedagogical agents in scenario-based language e-learning: A case study