Off-task Engagement in a Teachable Agent based Math Game

A previous study compared two student groups that played a mathematics game based on a teachable agent. One group played with, and the other without, the inclusion of a social conversation module: a chat between the student and the teachable agent. Results were that students who used the game with the chat included had a more positive experience of the game and learned more in the sense of teaching their agent better. However, patterns differed between sub-groups of students. Low-achievers did not prefer the game with the chat included, whereas highand mid-achievers did, but simultaneously low-achievers tended to chat more. Low-achievers tended not to use the options of not starting the chat or quitting a chat beforehand as much as highand mid-achievers did. In this paper we pursue a more detailed analysis of the students’ conversational behavior in the chat. The analytic focus is on the notion of engagement. Results point towards differences between the student groups in their engagement in the off-task conversation, that in turn can help explain the previous somewhat paradoxical result.