Teaching learning strategies with a pedagogical agent: The effects of a virtual tutor and its appearance on learning and motivation

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Nicole Sträfling
  • Ivonne Fleischer
  • Christin Polzer
  • Detlev Leutner
  • Nicole C. Krämer

Numerous studies have tested the effects of pedagogical agents on learning and the influence of their specific appearance. What has not been analyzed, however, is whether an agent can have indirect effects when it is employed as a tutor for learning strategies rather than directly teaching the relevant learning material. In a between-subjects design (N= 45) we compared two different kinds of pedagogical agents - a cartoon-like rabbit and a realistic anthropomorphic agent - with a control group that was not tutored by an animated agent but was informed by voice only. Results showed no clear advantages for the agents compared to voice-based tutoring with regard to indirect learning effects, but they did demonstrate that the appearance of the agent matters. The rabbit-like agent was not only preferred, but people exposed themselves longer to the tutoring session when the rabbit provided feedback.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Media Psychology
Volume22
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)73-83
Number of pages11
ISSN1864-1105
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • E-learning, Pedagogical agents, Physical appearance, Self-regulated learning
  • Psychology