An evolutionary approach to prototyping pedagogical agents: from simulation to integrated system

We have developed and integrated software agents with two educational groupware systems (TeamWave Workplace and FLE), using evolutionary prototyping and empirical-based design as development techniques. The resulting prototypes of pedagogical agents (CoPAS, SA-Agent and RuleEditor) provide learners and teachers with increasingly domain-specific support for distributed collaborative learning activities. Employing the evolutionary approach has enabled us to build and evaluate early prototypes of complex systems with cost-effective techniques and involving users in this process helped us to constrain the design space and direct further development. CoPAS is a simulation experiment carried out with the Wizard of Oz technique, SA-Agent is a pedagogical agent integrated with an open-source learning environment, and RuleEditor is a customizer for the SA-Agent. The agents collect statistical information on user activity and analyze that information based on principles of collaboration and knowledge building. The results are presented as advice in the user interface of the learning environments to promote students' reflection on their collaboration and knowledge-building activities. If instructors disagree about the phrasing of the advice or the frequency of intervention, they can change it using the RuleEditor agent customizer.

[1]  Lucy Suchman.  Plans and situated actions: the problem of human-machine communication , 1987 .

[2]  Teemu Leinonen,et al.  Fle4 - Future Learning Environment , 2002 .

[3]  Bonnie A. Nardi,et al.  A Small Matter of Programming: Perspectives on End User Computing , 1993 .

[4]  Liam J. Bannon.  Computer-Mediated Communication , 1986 .

[5]  Arne Jönsson,et al.  Wizard of Oz studies: why and how , 1993, IUI '93.

[6]  Hanni Muukkonen,et al.  Collaborative technology for facilitating progressive inquiry: future learning environment tools , 1999, CSCL.

[7]  Raymond McCall,et al.  Design environments for constructive and argumentative design , 1989, CHI '89.

[8]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces , 1992, CSCW '92.

[9]  James C. Lester,et al.  Animated Pedagogical Agents: Face-to-Face Interaction in Interactive Learning Environments , 2000 .

[10]  Christoph G. Thomas,et al.  A user interface integrating adaptability and adaptivity , 1994 .

[11]  Dan Shapiro,et al.  Faltering from ethnography to design , 1992, CSCW '92.

[12]  Constantino-Gonzales,et al.  Coaching Collaboration by Comparing Solutions and Tracking Participation. , 2001 .

[13]  Pål Fugelli,et al.  Grounding interaction in a CSCL environment , 2004 .

[14]  Saul Greenberg,et al.  TeamRooms: network places for collaboration , 1996, CSCW '96.

[15]  Anders I. Mørch,et al.  Simulating pedagogical agents in a virtual learning environment , 2002, CSCL.

[16]  Sten R. Ludvigsen,et al.  Categorisation in Knowledge Building , 2003, CSCL.

[17]  Robert M. Aiken,et al.  Monitoring computer-based collaborative problem solving , 1995 .

[18]  Hans Spada,et al.  Learning in Humans and Machines: Towards an Interdisciplinary Learning Science , 1995 .

[19]  Barbara Wasson,et al.  An Instructional Assistant Agent for Distributed Collaborative Learning , 2002, Intelligent Tutoring Systems.

[20]  Marlene Scardamalia,et al.  Computer Support for Knowledge-Building Communities , 1994 .

[21]  Anders I. Mørch,et al.  Identifying collaboration patterns in collaborative telelearning scenarios , 2000, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[22]  Clarence A. Ellis,et al.  Groupware: some issues and experiences , 1991, CACM.

[23]  Scotty D. Craig,et al.  Animated Pedagogical Agents in Multimedia Educational Environments: Effects of Agent Properties, Picture Features, and Redundancy , 2002 .

[24]  Nancy Law.  Scaffolding scientific conceptualization: multiple representation and multilevel visualization using an iconic modeling tool , 2002, International Conference on Computers in Education, 2002. Proceedings..

[25]  Weiqin Chen,et al.  Integrating Software Agents with FLE3 , 2003, CSCL.

[26]  Diane J. Hanson,et al.  E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age , 2003, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[27]  Ard W. Lazonder,et al.  Using sentence openers to foster student interaction in computer-mediated learning environments , 2003, Comput. Educ..

[28]  Lars Svensson,et al.  Communities of Distance Education , 2002 .

[29]  Lakhmi C. Jain,et al.  Network and information security: A computational intelligence approach: Special Issue of Journal of Network and Computer Applications , 2007, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[30]  Lars Mathiassen,et al.  Computers and Design in Context , 2003 .

[31]  Steven J. Plimpton,et al.  Massively parallel methods for engineering and science problems , 1994, CACM.

[32]  Timothy Koschmann,et al.  Paradigm shifts and instructional technology : An introduction , 1996 .

[33]  Paula Elizabeth Sanderson.  E-Learning: strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age , 2002 .

[34]  Pattie Maes,et al.  Agents that reduce work and information overload , 1994, CACM.

[35]  D. Suthers,et al.  Providing Expert Advice in the Domain of Collaborative Scientific Inquiry. , 1997 .

[36]  Jan Dolonen,et al.  Integrating Agents with an Open Source Learning Environment , 2003 .

[37]  Anders I. Mørch,et al.  Helping Users Customize Their Pedagogical Agents: Issues, Approaches and Examples , 2004, KES.

[38]  Lars Mathiassen,et al.  Three Levels of End-User Tailoring: Customization, Integration, and Extension , 2003 .

[39]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  A foundation for the study of group decision support systems , 1987 .

[40]  Carl Gutwin,et al.  Support for workspace awareness in educational groupware , 1995, CSCL.

[41]  Gerry Stahl,et al.  A Model of Collaborative Knowledge Building , 2006 .

[42]  Alain Karsenty,et al.  Transparency and awareness in a real-time groupware system , 1992, UIST '92.

[43]  M. van Harmelen.  Personal Learning Environments , 2006 .

[44]  W. Lewis Johnson,et al.  Steve: an animated pedagogical agent for procedural training in virtual environments , 1997, SGAR.

[45]  Hiroaki Ogata,et al.  Visualizing Knowledge Awareness in a Web-Based CSCL Environment , 2001, WebNet.

[46]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Structuring computer-mediated communication systems to avoid information overload , 1985, CACM.

[47]  Barbara Wasson,et al.  Collaboration and Problem Solving in Distributed Collaborative Learning , 2001 .

[48]  Bonnie A. Nardi,et al.  A small matter of programming , 1993 .

[49]  Lev Vygotsky.  Mind in society , 1978 .

[50]  Noriko Hara,et al.  Students' Frustrations with a Web-Based Distance Education Course , 1999, First Monday.

[51]  P. Dillenbourg,et al.  The evolution of research on collaborative learning , 1996 .

[52]  D. Norman,et al.  User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction , 1988 .

[53]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  Intelligent Information Sharing Systems , 1986 .

[54]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  End-user modifiability in design environments , 1990, CHI '90.

[55]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Computer-supported cooperative work: history and focus , 1994, Computer.

[56]  Loren G. Terveen,et al.  Helping users program their personal agents , 1996, CHI.

[57]  Gavriel Salomon,et al.  What does the design of effective CSCL require and how do we study its effects? , 1992, SCOU.

[58]  Henry Lieberman.  Integrating user interface agents with conventional applications , 1998, IUI '98.

[59]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  Experiments with Oval: a radically tailorable tool for cooperative work , 1992 .