ERIC Number: EJ1104162
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0738-0569
EISSN: N/A
The Role of Agent Age and Gender for Middle-Grade Girls
Kim, Yanghee
Computers in the Schools, v33 n2 p59-70 2016
Compared to boys, many girls are more aware of a social context in the learning process and perform better when the environment supports frequent interactions and social relationships. For these girls, embodied agents (animated on-screen characters acting as tutors) could afford simulated social interactions in computer-based learning and thereby supply a girl-friendly instructional context. This study examined the effects of the age and gender of an agent on ninth-grade Caucasian and ethnic-minority girls' perceptions of the agent, mathematics attitudes, and learning in a computer-based algebra-learning environment. In general, the findings support that a virtual agent plays both social and instructional roles that favor teenage girls and could be a viable tool to create a favorable context for girls learning challenging topics.
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Grade 9, Age Differences, Gender Differences, Females, Social Influences, Context Effect, Educational Environment, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Interactive Video, White Students, Minority Group Students, Algebra, Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Program Effectiveness, Student Attitudes, Pretests Posttests, Statistical Analysis
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools; Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A