Influence of conversational agent on students’ attitude toward mathematics

What the paper says

Purpose There exists a phenomenon called students’ negative attitude toward mathematics, leading to a decline in students’ performance in mathematics and influencing their decisions to refrain from pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors and careers. Studies show that using technology in education can reduce anxiety toward mathematics by increasing students’ motivation to explore and appreciate mathematics. Conversational agents (CAs), automated software that interacts with users via natural language, can be used in education to support teaching and learning. Unfortunately, despite its nearly 60-year history, the application of this technology in the education domain is still scarce. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of integrating CA on students’ attitude toward mathematics. Design/methodology/approach To compare the impact of different teaching methods, students were randomly divided into two groups: a control group receiving only traditional classroom instruction and an experimental group receiving traditional instruction combined with interaction with a CA. After that, they participated in a five-point Likert scale questionnaire on attitude toward mathematics. Findings The findings revealed that integrating CA in mathematics teaching and learning significantly reduced experimental students’ anxiety toward mathematics while there was no improvement shown in the importance of mathematics. Originality/value The integration of features such as experiential learning, social dialogue, affective learning and scaffolding makes this CA a comprehensive tool for promoting personalized and engaging learning experiences among students thus reducing students’ anxiety and increasing their overall confidence toward mathematics.