Engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo are successfully using a robot to help keep children with learning disabilities focused on their work. This was one of the key results in a new study that also found both the youngsters and their instructors valued the positive classroom contributions made by the robot.
“Overall, the findings demonstrate that the robot has a positive effect on students,” said Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn, a professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Educators have in recent years explored the use of social robots to help students learn, but most often, their research has focused on children with autism (孤独症). As a result, little work has been done on the use of socially assistive robots for students with learning disabilities.
Along with two other Waterloo engineering researchers and three experts from the Learning. Disabilities Society in Vancouver, Dautenhahn decided to change this, conducting a series of tests with a small humanoid (仿人的) robot called QTrobot.
Dautenhahn said the robot’s ability to perform gestures using its head and hands, accompanied by its speech and facial features, makes it very suitable for children with learning disabilities.
Building on promising earlier research, the researchers divided 16 students with learning disabilities into two groups. In one group, students worked one on-one with an instructor only. In the other group, the students worked one-on-one with an instructor and a QTrobot. In the latter group, the instructor used a tablet to direct the robot, which then autonomously performed various activities using its speech and gestures. While the instructor controlled the sessions, the robot took over at certain times to lead the students.
Besides introducing the session, the robot set goals and provided self-regulating strategies, if necessary. If the learning process was getting off- track, the robot used strategies such as games, riddles and physical movements to redirect the students back to the task.
“Students who worked with the robot,” Dautenhahn said, “were generally more engaged with their tasks and could complete their tasks at a higher rate compared to the students who weren’t assisted by a robot.
【小题1】What can we know about Dautenhahn’s research?| A．It seeks to provide a treatment for autism. |
| B．It attempts to replace teachers with robots in teaching. |
| C．It intends to educate students to be creative and productive. |
| D．It studies the effects of robots on students with learning disabilities. |
| A．The role the robot played. |
| B．The process of the research. |
| C．The outcomes of the two groups. |
| D．The range of the participants involved. |
| A．It warned the student directly by speech. |
| B．It assigned tasks for the student to complete. |
| C．It informed the instructor to intervene in the learning process. |
| D．It attracted the student’s attention through interesting activities. |
| A．Robots promote students’ academic performance greatly. |
| B．There is great potential for using robots in the education system. |
| C．Teachers are defeated by robots when it comes to motivating students. |
| D．Students are becoming more independent with the assistance of robots. |
