Emotions, Technology, Design, and Learning

Sharon Y. Tettegah, Martin Gartmeier

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780128018811
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Educational Psychology

Emotions, Technology, Design, and Learning provides an update to the topic of emotional responses and how technology can alter what is being learned and how the content is learned.

The design of that technology is inherently linked to those emotional responses. This text addresses emotional design and pedagogical agents, and the emotions they generate. Topics include design features such as emoticons, speech recognition, virtual avatars, robotics, and adaptive computer technologies, all as relating to the emotional responses from virtual learning.

• Addresses the emotional design specific to agent-based learning environments
• Discusses the use of emoticons in online learning, providing an historical overview of animated pedagogical agents
• Includes evidence-based insights on how to properly use agents in virtual learning environments
• Focuses on the development of a proper architecture to be able to have and express emotions
• Reviews the literature in the field of advanced agent-based learning environments
• Explores how educational robotic activities can divert students' emotions from internal to external

Section III

Interactions, Design, and Learning

Chapter 10

Virtual Avatar as an Emotional Scaffolding Strategy to Promote Interest in Online Learning Environment

Sanghoon Park Instructional Technology Program, College of Education, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

Abstract

Online learning allows students to have greater control over their learning process in terms of time and place. However, students often experience unwanted negative emotions due to the lack of emotional support while interacting with online learning content. This chapter suggests virtual avatars (VAs; also known as pedagogical agents) as a vehicle to provide just-in-time emotional scaffolding in online learning. First, this chapter introduces the concept of VAs and emotional scaffolding. Then, based on a literature review on interest development, two design considerations for emotional scaffolding with VAs are discussed: visual persona and verbal messages. Finally, the findings of a case study involving VAs are shared to demonstrate how VAs can be designed and utilized to scaffold learners’ situational interest in an online learning environment.

Keywords

Virtual avatar

Emotional scaffolding

Learning interest

Online learning

Interest development

Introduction

Online distance learning has been highlighted as a reliable alternative to face-to-face education (Brady, Holcomb, & Smith, 2010; Veletsianos & Navarrete, 2012). According to Allen and Seaman (2010), one in four undergraduate students in the US higher education institutions takes at least one online course during their academic programs. In US higher education, the issue of “student engagement” has been an indicator of educational quality (Sener, 2007). Although online learning allows students to have greater control over their learning in regards to time and place, as well as management of their learning process (Bai, 2003), there are still students who experience frustration and even drop out of online courses due to the physical separation from instructor and peers (Naidu, 1994). Previous studies have reported higher attrition rates in online classes than in traditional classes (Thompson, 1998), which leads to the non completion of course requirements and results in academic non-success (Phipps & Merisotis, 1999; Ridley & Sammour, 1996). According to Garland (1993), the dispositional barrier (e.g. personal problems that influence the student’s persistence behavior, such as motivation) has proved to be one of the primary causes of attrition in distance education.

Recent research on academic emotion has gained its attention in supporting the dispositional barrier in a learning context. Studies conducted within a self-determination framework posit that external supports are indeed necessary for students to internalize the value of engaging in activities that are particularly compelling or intrinsically interesting (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Reeve, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Pekrun (2006), based on his control-value theory, provides a framework of emotions related to achievement activities by emphasizing subjective control and values over learning activities/outcomes. Both self-determination and control-value frameworks imply that educators need to attempt to influence students’ emotions by modifying their perceived value of the task and further assist them to develop self-regulation skills and emotional control skills (Goetz, Pekrun, Hall, & Haag, 2006). Often, online learning environments allow students to learn at their own pace when they read learning materials or interact with course content. However, most students do not have properly developed self-regulation strategies (Azevedo & Cromley, 2004; Graesser & McNamara, 2010). Consequently, they need to be guided through substantial cognitive and affective scaffolding to be productively involved in complex learning environments (Graesser & D’Mello, 2011).

In the classroom, teachers and peer students serve as such external supports. In online classes, however, there is a great need to provide online students with additional support to help them initiate and persist in maintaining the necessary positive emotions during the course. In Passig (2001), students participating in various distance learning courses reported that there is a greater need to experience emotional scaffolding in a collaborative manner. With the recent popularity of online learning in higher education, the need to support online learners’ academic emotions has never been greater.

In this chapter, a virtual avatar (VA, also known as a pedagogical agent) is suggested as a strategy to provide online learners with emotional scaffolding, specifically to promote interest in an online learning environment. First, the concepts of the VA and emotional scaffolding are discussed. This is followed by two design considerations for emotional scaffolding using Vas: visual persona and verbal messages. Lastly, a case study implementing two VAs that are designed to provide online learners with emotional scaffolding, especially to promote learning interest, is described. This chapter is expected to have value for both researchers and practitioners in the fields of instructional technology, human computer interaction, and VAs/pedagogical agents.

Emotional Scaffolding and VAs

Emotional Scaffolding

Scaffolding has been a popular research topic in education over recent decades. In its original definition, Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) adopted the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky to explain how adults help children solve problem activities. They focused on one of the key aspects of children’s learning when guided by adults (skilled others) and found that adults help children concentrate on the task elements that are within his/her competency and support their efforts eventually until they gain sufficient skills (Belland, Kim, & Hannafin, 2013). In learning contexts, scaffolding is often used as a metaphor to explain the adults’ temporary support provided for children to complete a certain element of problem activity (Van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen, 2010). The emotional dimension of scaffolding was not clearly recognized in the original definition, although it was inherent in contingency management and frustration control.

Emotional scaffolding was then introduced and conceptualized by Rosiek (2003) based on a series of collaborative projects at the Standford Teacher Education Program. The focus of the project was to gather insights on how teachers provide scaffolding for student learning by documenting pedagogical representations that they use. Rosiek (2003) found that scaffolding designed to guide students’ emotional response emerged in considerable discussions and called it “emotional scaffolding.” He then defined emotional scaffolding as the way teachers make use of analogies, metaphors, and narratives to influence students’ emotional response to certain aspects of the subject matter, so that student learning is promoted (Rosiek, 2003; Rosiek & Begetto, 2009). Rosiek (2003) viewed emotional scaffolding as an emotional dimension of pedagogical content knowledge. He stated that “… emotional scaffolding requires teachers to have clear knowledge of their subject matter and knowledge about the various influences on students’ emotional experience of the subject matter” (Rosiek, 2003, p. 406).

With respect to distinct emotional scaffolding approaches, Rosiek (2003) claimed two patterns were found from the study: (1) the type of emotion teachers are concerned with; and (2) the way teachers chose to address students’ emot...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Section I: Emotions and Affect Recognition Systems
• Section II: Reviews on Emotions, Affect, and Design
• Section III: Interactions, Design, and Learning
• Index