Using Pedagogical Agents on Computer Aided Teaching: A Synthesis of Studies

Year 2016, Volume: 39 Issue: 39, 83 - 99, 01.01.2016

Serkan Dinçer Ahmet Doğanay

Abstract

Pedagogical agents are generally defined as modules facilitating the social
learning, guiding students, giving motivational support and feedback in
educational software. The purpose of this study is to synthesize results of the
studies done on pedagogical agents by using content analysis method. In order
to seek for answers to research questions, the sources of the meta-analysis
study conducted by Dinçer and Yavuz (2013) about pedagogical agent were utilized, in addition to
this; the articles published from this date on were included by being scanned.
The studies carried out about pedagogical
agents between 2002 and 2013 were analyzed and thirty one articles were
included in the study. The articles included were examined in terms of their
purposes and it was decided to group the themes within these titles: “effect on
academic success”, “effect on attitude”, and agent features was investigated.
The result reached was that approximately in all of the studies the software
having pedagogical agent were more
successful than the ones not having agent or traditional instruction and
positively effect the attitude. Besides, it was concluded that the agent design
giving the best results were the visual agents like human voice. As a result,
it is thought that it is necessary to use the pedagogical agents in every educational software especially for guiding the
students and increase their attitude and motivation. However, it is considered
that during the design of the pedagogical
agents making designs in accordance with cognitive load and the principles
of multi-media; using more than one character and adding others such as voice,
text, etc. to these characters will be beneficial. 

Keywords

Pedagogical agent, computer aided teaching/learning, educational software

Bilgisayar Destekli Öğretimde Eğitsel Arayüzlerin Kullanımı: Bir Sentez Çalışması

Abstract

Eğitsel arayüzler genel olarak eğitim yazılımlarında
sosyal öğrenmeyi kolaylaştıran, öğrencilere rehberlik eden, motivasyon desteği
ve dönütler veren modüller olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu araştırmada eğitim
yazılımlarında arayüz kullanımının etkilerini araştırmak amacıyla içerik
analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sorularına cevap aramak için Dinçer
ve Yavuz (2013) tarafından eğitsel arayüz konusunda yapılan meta-analiz
çalışmasının kaynaklarından yararlanılmış, buna ek olarak bu tarihten sonra
yayınlanan diğer makalelerde taranarak bu çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. 2002-2013
yılları arasında eğitsel arayüzlerle yapılan çalışmalar incelenmiş, çalışmaya
31 makale dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmaya dahil edilen makaleler amaçları
bakımından incelenmiş ve temaların akademik başarıya etki, tutuma etki
başlıklarında gruplanmasına karar verilmiş ve arayüz özellikleri incelenmiştir.
Hemen hemen tüm çalışmalarda eğitsel arayüze sahip eğitim yazılımlarının, sahip
olmayanlara ya da geleneksel öğretime göre akademik başarı açısından daha
başarılı olduğu ve tutumu olumlu yönde etkilediği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca
en iyi sonuçlar veren eğitsel arayüz tasarımının sesli insan benzeri olan
görsel arayüzler olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Sonuç olarak eğitsel arayüzlerin
özellikle öğrencilere rehberlik etmesi ve tutum-motivasyonlarını artırması
nedeniyle her eğitim yazılımında kullanılması gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Ancak
eğitsel arayüzlerin tasarlanmasında bilişsel yüke ve çoklu ortam ilkelerine
uygun tasarımların yapılması; birden fazla karakter kullanılarak bu
karakterlere ses, metin vb. özelliklerinde eklenmesinin yararlı olacağı
düşünülmektedir. 

Keywords

Eğitsel arayüzler, bilgisayar destekli öğretim/eğitim, eğitsel yazılımlar

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