Affiliations: Center for Research of Innovative Technologies for
Learning (RITL), Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems,
Florida State University, USA, baylor@coe.fsu.edu, http://ritl.fsu.edu | Department of Instructional Technology, Utah State
University, USA, yanghee.kim@usu.edu
Abstract: This paper describes the design and empirical validation of three
distinct pedagogical agent roles (Expert, Motivator, and Mentor) for college
students within the MIMIC (Multiple Intelligent Mentors Instructing
Collaboratively) agent-based research environment. The pedagogical agent roles
were operationalized by image, animation, affect, voice and script, and were
developed in Poser 4 and implemented via Microsoft Agent. Two controlled
experiments validated the instantiation of the three roles according to learner
perception (N=78) and actual impact on motivation and learning (N=71). The
results confirmed that the agent roles were not only perceived by the students
to reflect their intended purposes but also led to significant changes in
learning and motivation, as designed. Specifically, the Expert agent led to
increased information acquisition, the Motivator led to increased
self-efficacy, and the Mentor led to overall improved learning and motivation.
The implications for intelligent tutoring and multi-agent system design and
development is discussed.
