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Cited by 44Psychological and Educational Research StudiesIntelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive LearningInnovative Teaching and Learning Methods

Pedagogical Agents for Fostering Question-Asking Skills in Children

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Alaimi, Mehdi, Law, Edith, Pantasdo, Kevin Daniel, Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves, Sauzeon, Hélène·2020·Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
DOI 10.1145/3313831.3376776
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Abstract

Question asking is an important tool for constructing academic knowledge, and a self-reinforcing driver of curiosity. However, research has found that question asking is infrequent in the classroom and children's questions are often superficial, lacking deep reasoning. In this work, we developed a pedagogical agent that encourages children to ask divergent-thinking questions, a more complex form of questions that is associated with curiosity. We conducted a study with 95 fifth grade students, who interacted with an agent that encourages either convergent-thinking or divergent-thinking questions. Results showed that both interventions increased the number of divergent-thinking questions and the fluency of question asking, while they did not significantly alter children's perception of curiosity despite their high intrinsic motivation scores. In addition, children's curiosity trait has a mediating effect on question asking under the divergent-thinking agent, suggesting that question-asking interventions must be personalized to each student based on their tendency to be curious.

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Cited by

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Authors
Alaimi, M., Law, E., Pantasdo, K. D., Oudeyer, P.-Y., & Sauzeon, H.
Affiliations
  • Université de Bordeaux (FR)
  • University of Waterloo (CA)
  • Centre Inria de l'université de Bordeaux (FR)
ORCID
Sauzeon, Hélène
Venue
Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Published
2020-04-21
Pages
1-13
DOI
10.1145/3313831.3376776
OpenAlex
W3015833642
Cited by
44
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2
FWCI
6.57
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.acm.org/publications/policies/copyright_policy#Background (vor)
Locations
  • CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • Idex/University of Bordeaux
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2015-0454)
  • HFSP (RGP0018/2016)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Educational Research Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
Keywords
educational agents, questioning, divergent thinking, curiosity, children, fifth grade students, convergent thinking, intrinsic motivation, personalized interventions

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