Abstract
The M-Ecolab was developed to provide motivational scaffolding via an on-screen character whose demeanour defended on modelling the learner’s motivational state at interaction time. Motivational modelling was based on three variables: effort, independence and the confidence. A classroom evalu-ation was conducted to illustrate the effects of motivational scaffolding. Students had an eighty minute interaction with the M-Ecolab, divided into two sessions. The results suggested a positive effect of the motivational scaffolding, particularly for initially de-motivated students who demonstrated higher learning gains. We found that these students followed the suggestions of the on-screen character which delivered personalized feedback. They behaved in a way that was conducive to learning by being challenge-seekers and displaying an inclination to exert more effort. This paper gives a detailed account of the methodology and findings that resulted from the empirical evaluation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Weiner, B.: History of Motivational Research in Education. Journal of Educational Psychology 82(4), 616–622 (1990)
Lepper, M.R., Chabay, R.W.: Socializing the Intelligent Tutor. In: Lepper, M.R., Chabay, R.W. (eds.) Learning Issues for Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Springer, New York (1988)
Malone, T., Lepper, M.: Making learning fun. In: Malone, T., Lepper, M. (eds.) Aptitude, Learning and Instruction: Conative and Affective Process Analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (1987)
Song, S.H., Keller, J.M.: Effectiveness of Motivationlly Adaptive Computer-Assisted Instruction on the Dynamic Aspect of Motivation. Educational Technology Research and Development 49(2), 5–22 (2001)
Del Soldato, T., du Boulay, B.: Implementation of motivational tactics in tutoring systems. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 6, 337–378 (1995)
de Vicente, A., Pain, H.: Informing the Detection of the Students’ Motivational State: An Empirical Study. In: Cerri, S.A., Gouardéres, G., Paraguaçu, F. (eds.) ITS 2002. LNCS, vol. 2363, p. 933. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)
Luckin, R., du Boulay, B.: Ecolab: The Development and Evaluation of a Vygostskian Design Framework. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence 10, 198–220 (1999)
Luckin, R.: Ecolab: Explorations in the Zone of Proximal Development, PhD Thesis, in School of Cognitive & Computer Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH (1998)
Luckin, R., Hammerton, L.: Getting to Know Me: Helping Learners Understand Their Own Learning Needs through Metacognitive Scaffolding. In: Cerri, S.A., Gouardéres, G., Paraguaçu, F. (eds.) ITS 2002. LNCS, vol. 2363. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)
Wood, D.J., Wood, H.A.: An experimental evaluation of four face to face teaching strategies. International Journal of Behavioural Development 1, 131–147 (1978)
Rebolledo, G.: Motivational Modelling in a Vygotskyan ITS. In: Hoppe, U., Verdejo, F., Kay, J. (eds.) Proc. Intelligence in Education: 11th International Conference, AIED 2003, pp. 537–538. IOS Press, Amsterdam (2003)
Rebolledo Mendez, G., Boulay, B.d., Luckin, R.: Be bold and take a challenge: Could motivational strategies improve help-seeking? In: Looi, C., McCalla, G., Bredeweg, B., Breuker, J. (eds.) Proc. Artificial Intelligence in Education: 12th International Conference, AIED 2005, pp. 459–466. IOS Press, Amsterdam (2005)
Harter, S.: A new self report scale of intrinsic versus extrinsic orientation in the classroom: motivational and informational components. Developmental Psychology 17(3), 300–312 (1981)
Wright, D.B.: Comparing groups in a before-after design: when t-tests and ancova produce different results, Brighton, p. 23 (2004)
Keller, J.M.: Motivational Design of Instruction. In: Reigeluth, C.M. (ed.) Instructional-Design theories and models: An overview of their current status, pp. 383–434. Erlbaum, Hillsdale (1983)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Rebolledo-Mendez, G., du Boulay, B., Luckin, R. (2006). Motivating the Learner: An Empirical Evaluation. In: Ikeda, M., Ashley, K.D., Chan, TW. (eds) Intelligent Tutoring Systems. ITS 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4053. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11774303_54
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11774303_54
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-35159-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-35160-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)