Construction and Evaluation of Animated Teachable Agents
Bobby Bodenheimer
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459 // bobby.bodenheimer@vanderbilt.edu
Betsy Williams
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
Mattie Ruth Kramer
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
Karun Viswanath
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
Ramya Balachandran
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
Kadira Belynne
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
Gautam Biswas
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA // Tel: +1 615 322-3555 // Fax: +1 615 343-5459
ABSTRACT: This article describes the design decisions, technical approach, and evaluation of the animation and interface components for an agent-based system that allows learners to learn by teaching. Students learn by teaching an animated agent using a visual representation. The agent can answer questions about what she has been taught and take quizzes. The agent’s performance provides students feedback and motivation to learn, and the overall interaction helps students learn for themselves. The teachable agent uses speech and animation to communicate with the student, and sometimes expresses emotion through her spoken dialog and facial expressions. The technical approach is novel in that it provides a system for creating and customizing an animated agent and associated content in a fast and efficient manner that does not require specialized modeling or animation skills. We evaluate both our interface design and the effects of animated agent on students in a U.S. public school aged 9-11. Results show that the both the new interface and the presence of an animated agent promote positive learning experiences.
Keywords: Teachable agent, Learning environment, Pedagogical agent, Animated agent
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