Presentation description

With the rising use of electronic devices, multimedia digital storybooks are one way that children can learn vocabulary that is not a part of everyday language (e.g., science-related vocabulary). Prior research has explored how different features of digital storybooks (e.g., animation, contingency, interactivity, agents etc.) support children's concept and vocabulary learning and comprehension but have found mixed results on their effectiveness. The current study seeks to investigate the impact of pedagogical agents in multimedia information stories - interactive guides or tutors designed to support children's learning, comprehension, and engagement - on science word learning. These agents can appear with different roles (e.g., instructor, social, etc.) and behaviors (e.g., pointing, teaching, encouraging). Preschoolers (N=104) from eight Head Start sites read a multimedia storybook on a touch-screen device. The story was about types of bird beaks (e.g., cracking, hunting, and drilling beaks), their structural characteristics (e.g., cracking beaks are short and wide), behaviors (e.g., cracking beaks crack and crunch nuts and seeds), and functions (e.g., capturing and eating food). Children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, each differing by the presence/type of pedagogical agent: (1) no agent, (2) a teacher agent located out of the animation frame, or (3) a character agent working as an inside-the-story social character. We expect that children in either agent condition will demonstrate greater science word learning than those in the no agent condition with attentional support and teaching accompanied by visual presence of the agent. We also expect that children in the character agent condition will demonstrate greater science word learning than those in the teacher agent condition from cognitive engagement and motivation with the agent's interactive prompt and feedback. Ultimately, understanding what features in digital storybooks foster children's early word learning can guide the creation of new educational materials.