Collaborative Lecturing by Human and Computer Tutors

We implemented and evaluated a collaborative lecture module in an ITS that models the pedagogical and motivational tactics of expert human tutors. Inspired by the lecture delivery styles of the expert tutors, the collaborative lectures of the ITS were conversational and interactive, instead of a polished one-way information delivery from tutor to student. We hypothesized that the enhanced interactivity of the expert tutor lectures were linked to efforts to promote student engagement. This hypothesis was tested in an experiment that compared the collaborative lecture module (dialogue) to less interactive alternatives such as monologues and vicarious dialogues. The results indicated that students in the collaborative lecture condition reported more arousal (a key component of engagement) than the controls and that arousal was positively correlated with learning gains. We discuss the implications of our findings for ITSs that aspire to model expert human tutors.