Magnus Haake

A teachable-agent arithmetic game's effects on mathematics understanding, attitude and self-efficacy

A teachable-agent arithmetic game is presented and evaluated in terms of student performance, attitude and self-efficacy. An experimental prepost study design was used, enrolling 153 3rd and 5th grade students in Sweden. The playing group showed significantly larger gains in math performance and self-efficacy beliefs, but not in general attitude towards math, compared to control groups. The contributions in relation to previous work include a novel educational game being evaluated, and an emphasis on self-efficacy in the study as a strong predictor of math achievements.

Does the speaker's voice quality influence children's performance on a language comprehension test?

Abstract Purpose. A small number of studies have explored childrens perception of speakers’ voice quality and its possible influence on language comprehension. The aim of this explorative study was to investigate the relationship between the examiners voice quality, the childs performance on a digital version of a language comprehension test, the Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2), and two measures of cognitive functioning. Method. The participants were (n = 86) mainstreamed 8-year old children with typical language development. Two groups of children (n = 41/45) were presented with the TROG-2 through recordings of one female speaker: one group was presented with a typical voice and the other with a simulated dysphonic voice. Result. Significant associations were found between executive functioning and language comprehension. The results also showed that children listening to the dysphonic voice achieved significantly lower scores for more difficult sentences (“the man but not the horse jumps”) and used more self-corrections on simpler sentences (“the girl is sitting”). Conclusion. Findings suggest that a dysphonic speakers voice may force the child to allocate capacity to the processing of the voice signal at the expense of comprehension. The findings have implications for clinical and research settings where standardized language tests are used.

Children's Subjective Ratings and Opinions of Typical and Dysphonic Voice After Performing a Language Comprehension Task in Background Noise

OBJECTIVE Previous studies suggest that dysphonic voices are perceived more negatively than typical voices, and it is possible that vocal perception influences academic achievement and comprehension. This study assessed childrens subjective ratings and opinions of a typical and dysphonic voice after performing a language comprehension task in background noise. It also explored if subjective ratings were related to performance in the comprehension task. STUDY DESIGN Ninety-three 8-year-old children participated and were randomly allocated to two groups. METHODS A digital version of the Test for Reception of Grammar, version 2 (TROG-2) was used. In TROG-2, the child listens to a sentence and then, out of four possible pictures, selects the picture that corresponds to the sentence content. Each sentence assesses a specific grammatical construction. Test instructions were recorded using one speaker with two different voice qualities (typical voice and provoked dysphonic voice). One group of children performed TROG-2 with the typical voice and the other with the dysphonic voice, both presented in a multitalker babble noise using earphones. All children rated their subjective perception of the voice. RESULTS The dysphonic voice received poorer ratings than the typical voice. Children making more positive ratings of the voice performed better on earlier blocks in TROG-2, but only in the typical voice group. CONCLUSIONS Children perceived the dysphonic voice more negatively even when listening to the same speaker. Performance is related to the perception of the voice, but only when the perceptual load of the task-relevant stimuli is sufficiently low.

Are children with stronger cognitive capacity more or less disturbed by classroom noise and dysphonic teachers

Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to explore if dysphonic voice quality affects childrens performance on a language comprehension test, the Test for Reception of Grammar-2 (TROG-2), performed in simultaneous background noise (non-semantic babble). A further aim was to investigate the role of Working Memory Capacity (WMC) and Executive Functioning (EF) in coping with the voice against a background of babble conditions. Method: Ninety-three mainstreamed 8 year old children with typical language development were tested for WMC and EF. Two groups of children (n = 47/46) were formed and presented with recordings of TROG-2 instructions read by one female speaker: one group was presented with recordings with induced dysphonic voice quality, the other with recordings of typical voice. Both groups listened to the voice recordings in competing babble noise at a Signal-to-Noise Ratio of + 10 dB. Result: Significant differences were found for the interaction between cognitive capacity and the TROG-2 results in relation to the voice conditions. In the dysphonic voice condition, children with better WMC results scored higher at the easier comprehension tasks. In the typical voice condition, children with better WMC and EF results scored higher on the more difficult tasks. Seventeen per cent of the variance for the TROG-2 results was explained by the WMC and EF results. There was no overall effect on the childrens performance depending of voice condition. Conclusion: The effect of the speakers voice quality on childrens performance varies depending on the prevalence of background babble noise and on the task demands. The dysphonic voice and babble noise seem to demand allocation of cognitive capacities at the cost of language comprehension.

The effect of visual gender on abuse in conversation with ECAs

Previous studies have shown that female ECAs are more likely to be abused than male agents, which may cement gender stereotypes. In the study reported in this paper a visually androgynous ECA in the form of a teachable agent in an educational math game was compared with a female and male agent. The results confirm that female agents are more prone to be verbally abused than male agents, but also show that the visually androgynous agent was less abused than the female although more than the male agent. A surprising finding was that very few students asked the visually androgynous agent whether it was a boy or a girl. These results suggest that androgyny may be a way to keep both genders represented, which is especially important in pedagogical settings, simultaneously lowering the abusive behavior and perhaps most important, loosen the connection between gender and abuse.

Can preschoolers profit from a teachable agent based play-and-learn game in mathematics?

A large number of studies carried out on pupils aged 8–14 have shown that teachable agent (TA) based games are beneficial for learning. The present pioneering study aimed to initiate research looking at whether TA based games can be used as far down as preschool age. Around the age of four, theory of mind (ToM) is under development and it is not unlikely that a fully developed ToM is necessary to benefit from a TA’s socially engaging characteristics. 10 preschool children participated in an experiment of playing a mathematics game. The participants playing a TA-version of the game engaged socially with the TA and were not disturbed by his presence. Thus, this study unveils exciting possibilities for further research of the hypothesised educational benefits in store for preschoolers with regard to play-and-learn games employing TAs.

Educational Potentials in Visually Androgynous Pedagogical Agents

We report a study on student’s attitudes to a visually androgynous in comparison to a male and a female Teachable Agent (TA). Results were that overall the androgynous agent was preferred over the ...

The influence of voice quality on sentence processing and recall performance in school-age children with normal hearing

ABSTRACT Previous findings suggest that working memory capacity (WMC) is influenced by a dysphonic voice quality. The present study examines the influence of voice quality on sentence processing and word recall in a working memory task. Fifty-seven children (8:1–9:1 years old) with normal hearing participated. Working memory capacity (WMC) was assessed using a competing language processing task (CLPT) which consists of a sentence processing segment (judgements of semantic acceptability in sentences) and a final word recall segment. All children completed two versions of the CLPT; once listening to a typical voice and once listening to a vocally loading induced dysphonic voice. The two voices were recorded from the same female speaker. In addition, the children’s executive functioning was assessed using Elithorn’s mazes. The dysphonic voice quality significantly decreases scores on the sentence processing segment but not on the recall segment. Children with better executive functioning (i.e., response inhibition, organizing, processing, and planning) were less disturbed by the dysphonic voice in the recall segment. Children’s judgements of semantic acceptability in sentences in a working memory task are affected by a dysphonic voice quality, but not the recall segment (the measure of WMC). However, children with lower executive functioning may be more disturbed by the dysphonic voice. These findings suggest that listening to a dysphonic voice seems to require more cognitive resources than listening to a typical voice, but only when the task is sufficiently easy to allow for allocation of cognitive resources to process the degraded signal content. Abbreviations: CLPT: Competing language processing task; ISTS: International speech test signal; RMS: root-mean-square; SLP: speech and language pathologists; WMC: Working memory capacity

No Child Behind nor Singled out? – Adaptive Instruction Combined with Inclusive Pedagogy in Early Math Software

We describe a unique play-&-learn game for early math, designed to provide adaptive instruction with respect to support and challenge as well as to cater for an inclusive pedagogy where no child, whether far behind or far ahead, is exposed as being “different”.

Scaffolding mentalizing via a play-&-learn game for preschoolers

Educational software in which the student takes the role of teacher and instructs a digital tutee - a so-called teachable agent - has repeatedly proven to have positive effects for school childrens learning. In a study with 39 preschoolers aged 3:9 to 6:3, we explored the conditions under which children this young would benefit as well from this kind of educational software. We specifically investigated to what extent children of this age group would be able to reason about and reflect upon the actions of their digital tutee, and to what extent they would enjoy an educational game centered around instructing and helping a digital tutee. Results revealed that preschoolers were quite capable of reasoning and reflecting upon their digital tutee. This was rather surprising, since the results of a standardized false-belief test did not indicate this level of mentalizing capabilities in the group as a whole. The results also indicated that the preschoolers, like older children, were interested and engaged in this kind of game that involves instructing a digital tutee. Learning-by-Teaching software can be pedagogical meaningful in preschool.Preschoolers show considerable engagement using a Learning-by-Teaching software.Preschoolers show sufficient understanding of a digital tutee (teachable agent).Preschoolers outperform predictions of a standard false-belief test.In-game scaffolding elicits advanced performance in preschool children.