Change search
Link to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Publications (10 of 85) Show all publications
Ekström, S., Pareto, L. & Ljungblad, S. (2024). Teaching in a collaborative mathematic learning activity with and without a social robot. Education and Information Technologies: Official Journal of the IFIP technical committee on Education
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Teaching in a collaborative mathematic learning activity with and without a social robot
2024 (English)In: Education and Information Technologies: Official Journal of the IFIP technical committee on Education, ISSN 1360-2357, E-ISSN 1573-7608Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

There is a growing interest in whether social robots, which are embodied and exhibit human-like behaviour, can be used for teaching and learning. Still, very few studies focus on the teacher’s role. This study focuses on how a teacher acted in a learning-by-teaching activity with 20 children. In this small-scale field experiment, the teacher’s interactions and teaching actions were observed when the teacher scaffolded a learning activity where children played a collaborative digital mathematics game to strengthen their mathematical reasoning and conceptual understanding of arithmetic. When playing, the children were acting as tutors for a tutee, according to the learning-by-teaching principle. In one scenario, the tutee was a younger child; in the other, the tutee was a social robot. Twenty 30-minute game-playing sessions are observed, video-recorded, and transcribed.

The study explores the teacher’s interactions and teaching actions in the two scenarios and discusses the results from the perspective of the teacher’s role, social norms, and teacher digital competence. The interaction and thematic analyses show similarities and characteristic differences in the teacher’s interaction patterns in the two scenarios. The teaching actions are similar on a structural level and differ regarding the types and distribution of teaching actions. In the child-child scenario, the teacher directs most teaching actions to both players, and the actions are didactic (mathematical) scaffolding. In contrast, in the child-robot scenario, the teacher only addresses the tutor, and the scaffolding is socially oriented. Implications for a teaching practice involving social robots as learning companions are discussed regarding teachers’ presence and participation, types of social robot knowledge that go beyond digital competence, and new challenges introduced by using social robots as learning companions in the classroom.

The study contributes new insights into the teacher’s role and actions when teaching with a social robot in a collaborative learning situation, which is relevant for educational research and teaching practice.

Keywords
Social robots, Learning-by-teaching, Teaching actions, Embodied interaction, Game-based mathematics learning
National Category
Human Aspects of ICT Didactics Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-22783 (URN)10.1007/s10639-024-12926-2 (DOI)2-s2.0-85200843786 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Wallenberg Foundations, STARTSwedish Research Council, GRADE
Note

CC BY 4.0

This work was supported partly by the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation through the project START (Student Tutor and Robot Tutee) and partly by the Swedish Research Council through the national graduate school GRADE (Graduate School for Digital Technologies in Education)

Available from: 2024-12-19 Created: 2024-12-19 Last updated: 2025-01-16
Pareto, L., Ekström, S. & Serholt, S. (2022). Children's learning-by-teaching with a social robot versus a younger child: Comparing interactions and tutoring styles.. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 9, Article ID 875704.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Children's learning-by-teaching with a social robot versus a younger child: Comparing interactions and tutoring styles.
2022 (English)In: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, E-ISSN 2296-9144, Vol. 9, article id 875704Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Human peer tutoring is known to be effective for learning, and social robots are currently being explored for robot-assisted peer tutoring. In peer tutoring, not only the tutee but also the tutor benefit from the activity. Exploiting the learning-by-teaching mechanism, robots as tutees can be a promising approach for tutor learning. This study compares robots and humans by examining children's learning-by-teaching with a social robot and younger children, respectively. The study comprised a small-scale field experiment in a Swedish primary school, following a within-subject design. Ten sixth-grade students (age 12-13) assigned as tutors conducted two 30 min peer tutoring sessions each, one with a robot tutee and one with a third-grade student (age 9-10) as the tutee. The tutoring task consisted of teaching the tutee to play a two-player educational game designed to promote conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking. The tutoring sessions were video recorded, and verbal actions were transcribed and extended with crucial game actions and user gestures, to explore differences in interaction patterns between the two conditions. An extension to the classical initiation-response-feedback framework for classroom interactions, the IRFCE tutoring framework, was modified and used as an analytic lens. Actors, tutoring actions, and teaching interactions were examined and coded as they unfolded in the respective child-robot and child-child interactions during the sessions. Significant differences between the robot tutee and child tutee conditions regarding action frequencies and characteristics were found, concerning tutee initiatives, tutee questions, tutor explanations, tutee involvement, and evaluation feedback. We have identified ample opportunities for the tutor to learn from teaching in both conditions, for different reasons. The child tutee condition provided opportunities to engage in explanations to the tutee, experience smooth collaboration, and gain motivation through social responsibility for the younger child. The robot tutee condition provided opportunities to answer challenging questions from the tutee, receive plenty of feedback, and communicate using mathematical language. Hence, both conditions provide good learning opportunities for a tutor, but in different ways.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Frontiers Media S.A., 2022
Keywords
child–robot interaction, comparative study, learning-by-teaching, mathematics game, peer tutoring, robot tutee, robot versus human, video analysis
National Category
Human Aspects of ICT
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-19421 (URN)10.3389/frobt.2022.875704 (DOI)000885048100001 ()36388256 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85142005734 (Scopus ID)
Note

This work was partially supported by the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation through the project START (Student Tutorand Robot Tutee) MAW 2016.0117 and partially by the Swedish Research Council through the national research school GRADE (GRAduate school for Digital technologies in Education), grant 2017-03687. The authors are solely responsible for the content ofthis publication. It does not represent the opinion of the funders, andthe Wallenberg Foundation and Swedish Research Council are not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing therein.

This is an open-access articledistributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License(CC BY).

Available from: 2022-12-22 Created: 2022-12-22 Last updated: 2022-12-22
Serholt, S., Ekström, S., Küster, D., Ljungblad, S. & Pareto, L. (2022). Comparing a Robot Tutee to a Human Tutee in a Learning-By-Teaching Scenario with Children. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 9, Article ID 836462.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Comparing a Robot Tutee to a Human Tutee in a Learning-By-Teaching Scenario with Children
Show others...
2022 (English)In: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, E-ISSN 2296-9144, Vol. 9, article id 836462Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Social robots are increasingly being studied in educational roles, including as tutees inlearning-by-teaching applications. To explore the benefits and drawbacks of using robots in this way, it is important to study how robot tutees compare to traditional learning-by-teaching situations.

In this paper, we report the results of a within-subjects field experiment that compared a robot tutee to a human tutee in a Swedish primary school. Sixth-grade students participated in the study as tutors in a collaborative mathematics game where they were responsible for teaching a robot tutee as well as a third-grade student in two separate sessions. Their teacher was present to provide support and guidance for both sessions. Participants’ perceptions of the interactions were then gathered through a set of quantitative instruments measuring their enjoyment and willingness to interact with the tutees again, communication and collaboration with the tutees, their understanding of the task, sense of autonomy as tutors, and perceived learning gains for tutor and tutee.

The results showed that the two scenarios were comparable with respect to enjoyment and willingness to play again, as well as perceptions of learning gains. However, significant differences were found for communication and collaboration, which participants considered easier with a human tutee. They also felt significantly less autonomous in their roles as tutors with the robot tutee as measured by their stated need for their teacher’s help. Participants further appeared to perceive the activity as somewhat clearer and working better when playing with the human tutee.

These findings suggest that childrencan enjoy engaging in peer tutoring with a robot tutee. However, the interactive capabilities of robots will need to improve quite substantially before they can potentially engage in autonomous and unsupervised interactions with children.

Keywords
social robot, learning-by-teaching, in-the-wild, robot tutee, comparative study, children, robot versus human, child-robot interaction
National Category
Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-22737 (URN)10.3389/frobt.2022.836462 (DOI)
Funder
Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), MAW 2016.0117
Note

Open Access

Available from: 2024-12-10 Created: 2024-12-10 Last updated: 2024-12-10
Ekström, S. & Pareto, L. (2022). The dual role of humanoid robots in education: As didactic tools and social actors. Education and Information Technologies: Official Journal of the IFIP technical committee on Education
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The dual role of humanoid robots in education: As didactic tools and social actors
2022 (English)In: Education and Information Technologies: Official Journal of the IFIP technical committee on Education, ISSN 1360-2357, E-ISSN 1573-7608Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The idea of using social robots for teaching and learning has become increasingly prevalent and robots are assigned various roles in different educational settings. However, there are still few authentic studies conducted over time. Our study explores teachers’ perceptions of a learning activity in which a child plays a digital mathematics game together with a humanoid robot. The activity is based on the idea of learning-by-teaching where the robot is designed to act as a tutee while the child is assigned the role of a tutor. The question is how teachers perceive and talk about the robot in this collaborative child-robot learning activity? The study is based on data produced during a 2-years long co-design process involving teachers and students. Initially, the teachers reflected on the general concept of the learning activity, later in the process they participated in authentic game-play sessions in a classroom. All teachers’ statements were transcribed and thematically coded, then categorized into two different perspectives on the robot: as a social actor or didactic tool. Activity theory was used as an analytical lens to analyze these different views. Findings show that the teachers discussed the activity’s purpose, relation to curriculum, child-robot collaboration, and social norms. The study shows that teachers had, and frequently switched between, both robot-perspectives during all topics, and their perception changed during the process. The dual perspectives contribute to the understanding of social robots for teaching and learning, and to future development of educational robot design.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2022
Keywords
Humanoid robots; Social robots; Education; Teachers; Activity theory
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects Learning
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-18672 (URN)10.1007/s10639-022-11132-2 (DOI)000805713900001 ()2-s2.0-85131324006 (Scopus ID)
Note

This work was supported partly by the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation through the project START (Student Tutor and Robot Tutee), and partly by the Swedish Research Council through the national graduate school GRADE (Graduate School for digital technologies in education)

Available from: 2022-06-29 Created: 2022-06-29 Last updated: 2024-04-08
Pareto, L. & Willermark, S. (2022). Tracing expansive learning in computer-supported collaborative teaching. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 33, Article ID 100617.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Tracing expansive learning in computer-supported collaborative teaching
2022 (English)In: Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, ISSN 2210-6561, E-ISSN 2210-657X, Vol. 33, article id 100617Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The theory of expansive learning is used in many studies to explore change in inter-organizational and non-traditional settings. However, long-term, fundamental expansive learning is challenging to study due to the amount of data and the duration of object formation over several years. Researchers call for methods for systematic analysis of expansive learning. This paper presents an approach to systematically trace expansive learning in teaching practice. The approach was developed during a three-year school development project in an elementary school context. The participatory project engaged 66 teachers and 32 researchers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark aiming to develop innovative computer-supported collaborative teaching for a virtual Nordic classroom. The project was arranged in small inter-organizational teams that iteratively created, implemented, and evaluated novel ways of conducting computer-supported collaborative teaching. The project was immensely challenging with conflicts of interests and systemic contradictions between the inter-organizational collaborating teams, but when resolved cultivated the change in practice. To trace the formation of the teaching practice, we used an integrated approach combining the theory of expansive learning with a teaching practice framework, TPACK in situ, which helped us handle complexity and systematize the object formation, as well as examine the type of learning the teachers acquired.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2022
Keywords
Expansive learning; Activity theory; Integrated approach; TPACK in situ; Teaching practices; Teaching as design; Didactic design
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-18432 (URN)10.1016/j.lcsi.2022.100617 (DOI)000792550200005 ()2-s2.0-85125789920 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-05-30 Created: 2022-05-30 Last updated: 2022-05-30
Rangraz, M. & Pareto, L. (2021). Workplace work-integrated learning: supporting industry 4.0 transformation for small manufacturing plants by reskilling staff. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 40(1), 5-22
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Workplace work-integrated learning: supporting industry 4.0 transformation for small manufacturing plants by reskilling staff
2021 (English)In: International Journal of Lifelong Education, ISSN 0260-1370, E-ISSN 1464-519X, Vol. 40, no 1, p. 5-22Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Small manufacturing plants nowadays need to consider Industry 4.0 to stay competitive in the market. Among the challenges regarding the transformation towards Industry 4.0 are requirements to re-skill the staff for the new work environment. The staff have to either adapt to the workplace transformation brought by digitalisation, automation and robotics or face layoffs. This paper reports on a transformation process towards Industry 4.0 which was conducted in a small manufacturing enterprise where automated assembly line, industrial robots, codes and algorithms have replaced the previous manual set-up. In order to extend the learning models from educational to workplace settings, we investigated how a small manufacturing plant tackles the challenge of transformation towards Industry 4.0 with existing staff. We examined the transformation process through non-participant observations and 17 interviews during the initiation phase, and before, during, and after the new robotic system was launched. Based on the empirical study, we propose (a) a transformation method with respect to the workplace and adult learning scholarship and (b) a taxonomy of work-integrated learning activities to support the learning needed to manage transformations towards industry 4.0.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2021
Keywords
Industry 4.0; competence; work-integrated learning; automation
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-16236 (URN)10.1080/02601370.2020.1867249 (DOI)000603809900001 ()2-s2.0-85098558074 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2021-01-20 Created: 2021-01-20 Last updated: 2023-06-04
Barendregt, W., Ekström, S., Kiesewetter, S., Pareto, L. & Serholt, S. (2020). Demystifying Robots in the Co-Design of a Tutee Robot with Primary School Children. Interaction Design and Architecture(s) Journal, 44, 109-128
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Demystifying Robots in the Co-Design of a Tutee Robot with Primary School Children
Show others...
2020 (English)In: Interaction Design and Architecture(s) Journal, Vol. 44, p. 109-128Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the codesign of novel technologies with children. As part of a three year research project aiming to design and develop a robot tutee for use in mathematics education, we present the initial phases of our design approach with children, in which we draw on principles of Participatory Design and Co-design. As part of the early stages of this process, we included a demystifying phase (I), and a gradual introduction to the robot’s capabilities (II), in order to foster reasonable expectations in children and gather feasible design input. Drawing on the Time-Space-Structure framework, two primary schools were involved in the co-design process, where children in grades 2 and 4 participated in a set of workshops. We discuss the benefits and tensions of our approach, and reflect on its implications for mutual learning, hoping to inspire further exploration in this field.

Keywords
co-design, robot tutee, children
National Category
Human Computer Interaction
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-22770 (URN)
Note

Open Access

Available from: 2024-12-13 Created: 2024-12-13 Last updated: 2024-12-13
Ekström, S. & Pareto, L. (2020). New Teacher Roles With Social Robots as Actors in the Classroom. In: INTED 2020: 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference Valencia, Spain. 2-4 March, 2020, International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020. Paper presented at 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference Valencia, Spain. 2-4 March, 2020, International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020 (pp. 6636-6644). International Association for Technology, Education and Development
Open this publication in new window or tab >>New Teacher Roles With Social Robots as Actors in the Classroom
2020 (English)In: INTED 2020: 14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference Valencia, Spain. 2-4 March, 2020, International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020, International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020, p. 6636-6644Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Robots are entering the classrooms and provide new opportunities for education. Educational robots can either be used for programming, or as new types of social actors where these robots are designed to play different roles such as teachers, tutors, peers or tutees. However, new social actors affect the scene for learning by altering the social dynamics in the classroom, which in turn affects the roles of the other actors. In this study we explore the role of teachers in robot-enhanced classrooms, and ask the question: What new teacher roles emerge when robots enter the classroom as social actors? In this study we explore a setting where a student plays an educational mathematics game together with a humanoid robot on an interactive whiteboard, guided and supported by teachers and peers from the class. Four classes of school children in 2nd and 41h grade participated and played for about 5 minutes each. The game playing sessions were video-recorded, and 32 sessions were randomly selected, transcribed, coded and thematically analyzed using Interaction Analysis. Situations in which the teacher acted were analyzed to investigate when and why the teacher intervened and what types of support that was provided to the student. Results show that the teacher took several roles during the sessions. Traditional roles include moderator organizing the learning and managing social interactions as well as educator supporting the student’s learning by scaffolding mathematical problems and game-playing strategies. In addition, the teacher had to act technical facilitator handling problems and challenges with using the robot, and the role as interaction mentor guiding and supporting the student to manage the social interaction with the robot. The latter two roles are challenging and unfamiliar to most teachers. We conclude that using robots as social actors in education introduce new, challenging teacher roles requiring substantial and specific digital competence.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020
Keywords
educational robot; humanoid robot; teacher role; social actor; education; classroom study
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-16991 (URN)978-84-09-17939-8 (ISBN)
Conference
14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference Valencia, Spain. 2-4 March, 2020, International Association for Technology, Education and Development, 2020
Available from: 2021-10-01 Created: 2021-10-01 Last updated: 2023-02-27Bibliographically approved
Serholt, S., Pareto, L., Ekström, S. & Ljungblad, S. (2020). Trouble and Repair in Child-Robot Interaction: A Study of Complex Interactions With a Robot Tutee in a Primary School Classroom. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 7, Article ID 46.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Trouble and Repair in Child-Robot Interaction: A Study of Complex Interactions With a Robot Tutee in a Primary School Classroom
2020 (English)In: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, E-ISSN 2296-9144, Vol. 7, article id 46Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

 View references (31)Today, robots are studied and expected to be used in a range of social roles within classrooms. Yet, due to a number of limitations in social robots, robot interactions should be expected to occasionally suffer from troublesome situations and breakdowns. In this paper, we explore this issue by studying how children handle interaction trouble with a robot tutee in a classroom setting. The findings have implications not only for the design of robots, but also for evaluating their benefit in, and for, educational contexts. In this study, we conducted video analysis of children's group interactions with a robot tutee in a classroom setting, in order to explore the nature of these troubles in the wild. Within each group, children took turns acting as the primary interaction partner for the robot within the context of a mathematics game. Specifically, we examined what types of situations constitute trouble in these child–robot interactions, the strategies that individual children employ to cope with this trouble, as well as the strategies employed by other actors witnessing the trouble. By means of Interaction Analysis, we studied the video recordings of nine group interaction sessions (n = 33 children) in primary school grades 2 and 4. We found that sources of trouble related to the robot's social norm violations, which could be either active or passive. In terms of strategies, the children either persisted in their attempts at interacting with the robot by adapting their behavior in different ways, distanced themselves from the robot, or sought the help of present adults (i.e., a researcher in a teacher role, or an experimenter) or their peers (i.e., the child's classmates in each group). In terms of the witnessing actors, they addressed the trouble by providing guidance directed at the child interacting with the robot, or by intervening in the interaction. These findings reveal the unspoken rules by which children orient toward social robots, the complexities of child–robot interaction in the wild, and provide insights on children's perspectives and expectations of social robots in classroom contexts. © Copyright © 2020 Serholt, Pareto, Ekström and Ljungblad

National Category
Human Computer Interaction Robotics and automation
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-15169 (URN)10.3389/frobt.2020.00046 (DOI)000529907500001 ()2-s2.0-85083889881 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation
Available from: 2020-06-02 Created: 2020-06-02 Last updated: 2025-02-05
Willermark, S. & Pareto, L. (2020). Unpacking the Role of Boundaries in Computer-Supported Collaborative Teaching. Computer Supported Cooperative Work: The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, 29(6), 743-767
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Unpacking the Role of Boundaries in Computer-Supported Collaborative Teaching
2020 (English)In: Computer Supported Cooperative Work: The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, ISSN 0925-9724, E-ISSN 1573-7551, Vol. 29, no 6, p. 743-767Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this study, we explore the role of boundaries for collaborative learning and transformation of work practices to occur. We report from a three-year action research project including well over 1800 h of participation by the authors. The empirical data are based on project participation work including observations and field notes, project reports, interviews and a questionnaire, within a school development project in Nordic elementary school. In the project, teachers and researchers from three Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, collaborated to develop novel, on-line teaching models for a Nordic Virtual Classroom. The virtual classroom refers to an educational setting where teaching and learning activities are conducted collaboratively in cross-national teams "in the cloud" by means of information technology. During the project, teachers were challenged in their current teaching practices and the project resulted in collaborative learning and transformation of work practice. In this paper, we explore underlying reasons for such transformation to occur by unpacking how and why boundaries can play a role in computer-supported collaborative teaching and stimulate a transformation towards digitalized teaching practices. The paper contributes with an explanation of how the composition of boundaries of a technological, organizational, and cultural nature operates and constitutes a resource for learning and principles for how boundaries can be used for such purpose.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2020
Keywords
Boundaries, Digitalization, Teaching practices, Virtual classroom, Work practices
National Category
Human Computer Interaction
Research subject
Work Integrated Learning; ENGINEERING, Computer engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-15692 (URN)10.1007/s10606-020-09378-w (DOI)000538209700001 ()2-s2.0-85086104906 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak
Available from: 2020-08-17 Created: 2020-08-17 Last updated: 2023-08-24Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-5996-7668

Search in DiVA

Show all publications