It Takes Two: Examining the Effects of Collaborative Teaching of a Robot Learner

Teaching others has been shown to be an activity in which students can learn new information in both human-human (peer-tutoring) and human-computer interactions (teachable robots). One factor that may help foster learning and engagement when teaching others is the development of positive rapport and perceptions between the tutor, tutee, and robot. However, it is not clear what factors might affect the development of rapport. We explore whether having two students work together with a teachable robot might facilitate positive perceptions of the robot, rapport-building, and positive learning outcomes. In an exploratory pilot study, students were assigned to either work together in dyads (n = 28) or individually (n= 12) to help a teachable robot (Emma) solve math problems. Preliminary results showed that those who worked in a dyad had generally more positive perceptions of the robot than those who worked individually. These benefits were not observed for rapport where there were few differences between dyads and individuals, or learning where there was no difference on the posttest. We discuss the implications of these results for future research to explore the potential benefits of collaborative teaching of a robot learner.