TY - CONF
T1 - PROMOTING SOCIO-EMOTIONAL LEARNING WITH A VIRTUAL ROBOT FACILITATOR OF SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS
T2 - 20th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age, CELDA 2023
AU - Gordon, Goren
AU - Di Giunta, Laura
AU - Riccioni, Chiara
AU - Comitale, Clementina
AU - Gliozzo, Giulia
AU - Lunetti, Carolina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© CELDA 2023.All rights reserved.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - In this contribution, we present continued work-in-progress on an innovative system for facilitating small-group online discussions using an avatar during a video conference. Previous studies have shown that the system had an effective, understandable, and more participatory interaction that is sustained during a long-term interaction. Here, we examine long-term, cross-cultural effects on socio-emotional learning (SEL) for 5th and 6th graders in Israel and 3rd,4th, 5th graders in Italy. Eight elaborate activities were designed specifically for this setup to promote SEL in an engaging and collaborative way. Pre- and post-questionnaires regarding SEL were administered to the students, as well as semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show mixed trends, where in the Israel sample students reported a (non-significant) beneficial effect of the activities on their mindset and behavior, while in the Italian sample a different (non-significant) trend was observed. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews after the activities show that children had a noticeable change in their perception of SEL as well as their behaviors. Despite these mixed results, this work-in-progress continues to support the usage of the virtual robot facilitator of small group activities as an effective teaching assistant for school children, even in soft-skills such as socio-emotional learning domains.
AB - In this contribution, we present continued work-in-progress on an innovative system for facilitating small-group online discussions using an avatar during a video conference. Previous studies have shown that the system had an effective, understandable, and more participatory interaction that is sustained during a long-term interaction. Here, we examine long-term, cross-cultural effects on socio-emotional learning (SEL) for 5th and 6th graders in Israel and 3rd,4th, 5th graders in Italy. Eight elaborate activities were designed specifically for this setup to promote SEL in an engaging and collaborative way. Pre- and post-questionnaires regarding SEL were administered to the students, as well as semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show mixed trends, where in the Israel sample students reported a (non-significant) beneficial effect of the activities on their mindset and behavior, while in the Italian sample a different (non-significant) trend was observed. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews after the activities show that children had a noticeable change in their perception of SEL as well as their behaviors. Despite these mixed results, this work-in-progress continues to support the usage of the virtual robot facilitator of small group activities as an effective teaching assistant for school children, even in soft-skills such as socio-emotional learning domains.
KW - Facilitation
KW - Group Activity
KW - Video Conference
KW - Virtual Agent
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181771968&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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AN - SCOPUS:85181771968
SP - 411
EP - 416
Y2 - 21 October 2023 through 23 October 2023
ER -
