MathKingdom: Teaching Children Mathematical Language Through Speaking at Home via a Voice-Guided Game
Abstract
The amount and quality of mathematical language in the family are positively associated with promoting children’s mathematical abilities. However, mathematical language in many families is poor. Through need-finding investigation, we developed MathKingdom, a voice-agent-based game that helps children aged 4–7 learn and use rich, accurate mathematical language (e.g., mathematical expressions related to measurement, sequence, patterns). The game has four flows, in which users can wake up, transform, decorate, and perform as their avatars, as well as practice basic mathematical vocabulary, mathematical single sentences, coherent mathematical statements, and free expression. We refined the system design through wizard-of-oz testing and then evaluated it with 18 families. The results showed that MathKingdom effectively engaged children, enhanced their mathematical language skills and mathematical abilities, and encouraged parent-child conversations about math.
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Some previous AI assistant systems rely on digital sensors but are limited to rudimentary interactions; other approaches rely on predefined rules to generate dialogue, often leading to logical inconsistencies.
“Some systems [78] rely on digital sensors to perceive real world information but are limited to rudimentary interactions, and other approaches have relied on predefined rules to generate dialogue, which often led to logical inconsistencies [84].”
From ChatScratch: An AI-Augmented System Toward Autonomous Visual Programming Learning for Children Aged 6-12 (2024) · cites this paper as [78]
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- Authors
- Xu, W., Ma, J., Yao, J., Lin, W., Zhang, C., Xia, X., Zhuang, N., Weng, S., Xie, X., Feng, S., Ying, F., Hansen, P., & Yao, C.
- Affiliations
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- South China Agricultural University (CN)
- Macau University of Science and Technology (MO)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2023-04-19
- Pages
- 1-14
- OpenAlex
- W4366547704
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 23.07
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Keywords
- mathematical language, voice assistants, game-based learning, home-based learning, patterns, early childhood mathematics
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