Pedagogical agents promote young females\u27 positive mathematics learning experiences

Equity in mathematics education is often approached in the socio-cultural perspective. This study examined if pedagogical agents (animated on-screen characters) would create social context and contribute to females and ethnic minority students positive experiences in computer-based mathematics learning. The first phase was classroom experiments, with 128 students learning introductory algebra in the 9th grade, which revealed that females and Hispanic students perceived the agent more positively and demonstrated more positive mathematics attitudes than the Caucasian male counterparts. Females increased their mathematics self-efficacy. The second phase was in-depth interviews, with 23 students, which revealed that male and female students developed the distinct patterns of building relationships with their agent and that their relationship-building was shaped by their everyday classroom experiences