Learning in higher education scenarios requires self-directed learning and the challenging task of self-motivation while individual support is rare. The integration of social robots to support learners has already shown promise to benefit the learning process in this area. In this paper, we focus on the applicability of an adaptive robotic tutor in a university setting. To this end, we conducted a long-term field study implementing an adaptive robotic tutor to support students with exam preparation over three sessions during one semester. In a mixed design, we compared the effect of an adaptive tutor to a control condition across all learning sessions. With the aim to benefit not only motivation but also academic success and the learning experience in general, we draw from research in adaptive tutoring, social robots in education, as well as our own prior work in this field. Our results show that opting in for the robotic tutoring is beneficial for students. We found significant subjective knowledge gain and increases in intrinsic motivation regarding the content of the course in general. Finally, participation resulted in a significantly better exam grade compared to students not participating. However, the extended adaptivity of the robotic tutor in the experimental condition did not seem to enhance learning, as we found no significant differences compared to a non-adaptive version of the robot.
Reading is an essential ability and a cornerstone of education. However, learning to read can be challenging for children. To scaffold young learners, a number of reading interventions were developed, including a syllable-based approach in German, which has proven to be successful, but resource and time consuming through individual interaction by educators. To improve the reach of the reading intervention, we present the first step towards a digital intervention, following an iterative design approach. In this contribution, we present the implementation of a digital prototype, developed with the feedback of expert evaluations, as well as an interview study with second graders. The results of interviews with children showed that the app is suitable to be applied in the target age group, that children had fun using it and were motivated to further do so. In a next step towards a meaningful digitalization of the analogue intervention, we extended the application based on the evaluation results and conducted a usability evaluation of the extended app. The study as well as the usability evaluation provides design implications for iteratively transferring the analogue concept into a digital application.
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