The Impact of Effective Expression and Gender of a Learning Companion
Document Type
Presentation
Journal/Book Title/Conference
The Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Publication Date
4-11-2005
Abstract
This study examined the effects of emotional expression (positive vs. negative vs. neutral) and gender (male vs. female) of pedagogical agents as learning companions (PALs) on learning, interest, self- efficacy, and agent persona. Participants included 142 undergraduates. The results indicated that both positive and neutral PALs positively influenced interest and perceptions of PALs persona (p < .05). A male PAL positively influenced students recall (p < .01). There was an interaction effect between affective expression and gender on agent persona (p < .05): When the PAL expressed positive affect, the persona of a male PAL was perceived more favorably than that of a female PAL; however, this interaction was minimal when the PALs expressed negative or neutral affect.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Y. & Baylor, A. L. (2005). The Impact of Effective Expression and Gender of a Learning Companion. The Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA): Montreal, Canada. April 11–15, 2005.
