The impact of robot co-location on student learning experiences when reasoning about geometry

Veronica Grosso, Joseph E. Michaelis

Abstract: The application of social robots in education is an emerging field that has the potential to transform the way we teach and learn. In this work, we compare the effects of a physically co-located social robot and a virtual social robot on learning experiences, as students reason about geometry conjectures. Our thematic analysis of interactions and interviews show that the co-located robot was treated more socially and improved learning experiences compared to a virtual robot. Specifically, it increased the perceived effectiveness of the interaction to lower anxiety, provide companionship, and support reasoning and comprehension. These results support the use of co-located, physically present robots to complement learning activities that benefit from social interaction, including reasoning about complex problems and use of gestures. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on the use of social robots in education and highlights the potential for further research on this subject.