The Relationship Between Pedagogical Agents and Learners Is Complex and Negotiated

complexity of the field acknowledged
- empirical research suggests that the field is not as straightforward as it has been suggested
- empirical evidence in support of prior claims (motivation, support, etc) is mixed and often ambiguous
gender
- series of pictures, morphing from more to less feminine to masculine
  - more feminine was seen as more pleasant but less intelligent
  - but with doctors, this was not found - “doctor stereotype supercedes all else”
contextual relevance
- doctor avatar vs mohawk, on history of rock and on medicine
agent appearance
- appealing agents promoted transfer
- unappealing agents hindered learning
agent learner relationships and interaction
- occur in open-ended environments (not the norm in the field)
- emerging evidence: enjoyment of social chat, verbal abuse, fun with the system

Study

Implications

design for flexibility → open-ended environments
- introduces complexity
  - building systems capable of convincingly taking on multiple roles
how can we capitalize on relationship
- agent not a “tool” but a “partner”
- can we use this relationship to teach content better
- are there specific areas that would benefit greatly from this finding?

How would results differ