Computerized Pedagogical Agents as an Educational Means for Developing Physical Self-Efficacy and Encouraging Activity in Youth

Abstract

Physical activity participation rates in the United States have been in steady decline for the last 25 years, so much so that 60% of youth ages 9–13 years get no physical activity outside of school. This state of inactivity indicates that promoting participation in physical activity at a young age is of importance. For the present study, a computerized intervention based on the Transtheoretical Model and Social Cognitive Theory was designed and implemented in a school setting to study its potential effectiveness on self-efficacy and stage of change for physical activity. Participants (n = 98) were divided into three conditions. Students in the two experimental conditions interacted with a computerized agent program for 40 minutes, once per week for 5 weeks. Students in the control group received the same educational information in written form. Results support the use of computerized human agents for increasing exercise efficacy and health and fitness knowledge.

References

Adcock

A. B.

, & Van Eck

R. N.

(2005). Reliability and factor structure of the Attitude Toward Tutoring Agent Scale (ATTAS). Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 16, 195–212.

Alliance for a Healthier Generation. (2005). Healthier generation. Retrieved on September 24, 2006, from http://www.healthiergeneration.org/kids/

American Heart Association (AHA). (2005). A nation at risk: Obesity in the United States statistical sourcebook. Retrieved on October 1, 2006, from http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3030570

Anderssen

Wold

, & Torsheim

(2005). Tracking physical activity in adolescence. Research Quarterly in Exercise and Sport, 76, 119–129.

Atkinson

R. K.

(2002). Optimizing learning from examples using pedagogical agents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 416–427.

Atkinson

R. K.

Mayer

R. E.

, & Merrill

M. M.

(2005). Fostering social agency in multimedia learning: Examining the impact of an animated agent's voice. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 117–139.

Bandura

(1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman and Co.

Baylor

A. L.

(2002). Agent-based learning environments for investigating teaching and learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 26, 249–270.

Baylor

A. L.

, & Kim

(2004). Pedagogical agent design: The impact of agent realism, gender, ethnicity, and instructional role. Paper presented at the Intelligent Tutoring Systems; Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil.

10.

Baylor

A. L.

, & Ryu

(2003). Does the presence of image and animation enhance pedagogical agent persona? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 28,373–395.

11.

Biddle

S. J.

Whitehead

S. H.

O'Donovan

T. M.

, & Nevill

M. E.

(2005). Correlates of participation in physical activity for adolescent girls: A systematic review of recent literature. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2, 423–434.

12.

Castro

C. M.

King

A. C.

, & Brassington

G. S.

(2001). Telephone versus mail interventions for maintenance of physical activity in older adults. Health Psychology, 20, 438–444.

13.

Clark

R. E.

, & Choi

(2005). Five design principles for experiments on the effects of animated pedagogical agents. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32, 209–225.

14.

Craig

Driscoll

D. M.

, & Gholson

(2004). Constructing knowledge from dialogue in an intelligent tutoring system: Interactive learning, vicarious learning, and pedagogical agents. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(12), 163–183.

15.

Dinger

M. K.

Heesch

K. C.

, & McClary

K. R.

(2005). Feasibility of a minimal contact intervention to promote walking among insufficiently active women. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 2–6.

16.

Dirkin

K. H.

Mishra

, & Altermatt

(2005). All or nothing: Levels of sociability of pedagogical software agent and its impact on student perceptions and learning. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 14, 113–127.

17.

Doering

Veletsianos

, & Yerasimou

(2008). Conversational agents and their longitudinal affordances on communication and interaction. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 19(2), 251–270.

18.

Dunsworth

, & Atkinson

R. K.

(2007). Fostering multimedia learning of science: Exploring the role of an animated agent's image. Computers and Education, 49, 677–690.

19.

Felton

G. M.

Dowda

Ward

D. S.

Dishman

R. K.

Trost

S. G.

Saunders

(2002). Differences in physical activity between black and white girls living in rural and urban areas. Journal of School Health, 72, 250–255.

20.

Gidding

Leibel

Daniels

Rosenbaum

Van Horn

, & Marx

G. R.

(1996). Understanding obesity in youth. Circulation, 94, 3383–3387.

21.

Green

S. B.

(1991). How many subjects does it take to do a regression analysis? Multivariate Behavioral Research, 26, 499–510.

22.

Griffin-Blake

C. S.

, & DeJoy

D. M.

(2006). Evaluation of social-cognitive versus stage-matched, self-help physical activity interventions at the workplace. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 200–209.

23.

Kim

, & Baylor

A. L.

(2006). A social-cognitive framework for pedagogical agents as learning companions. Educational Technology Research & Design, 54, 569–596.

24.

King

A. C.

Stoklos

Talen

Brassington

G. S.

, & Killingsworth

(2002). Theoretical approaches to the promotion of physical activity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 15–25.

25.

Lester

J. C.

Converse

S. A.

Kahler

S. E.

Barlow

S. T.

Stone

B. A.

, & Bhoga

R. S.

(1997). The persona effect: Affective impact of animated pedagogical agents. Paper presented at the CHI'97 Human Factors in Computing Systems., Atlanta, GA.

26.

Lewis

B. A.

Napolitano

M. A.

Whitely

J. A.

, & Marcus

B. H.

(2006). The effect of preferences for print versus telephone interventions on compliance and attrition in a randomized controlled physical activity trial. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7, 612–615.

27.

Lippke

Ziegelmann

J. P.

, & Schwarzer

(2005). Stage-specific adoption and maintenance of physical activity: Testing a three-stage model. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6, 585–603.

28.

Marcus

B. H.

Selby

V. C.

Niaura

R. S.

, & Rossi

J. S.

(1992). Self-efficacy and the stages of exercise behavior change. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63, 63–66.

29.

Marcus

B. H.

, & Simkin

L. R.

(1994). The transtheoretical model: Applications to exercise behavior. Medicine & Science in Sport and Exercise, 26, 1400–1404.

30.

McAuley

Lox

, & Duncan

T. E.

(1993). Long-term maintenance of exercise, self-efficacy, and physiological change in older adults. Journal of Gerontology, 48, P218–P224.

31.

Moreno

Mayer

R. E.

Spires

H. A.

, & Lester

J. C.

(2001). The case for social agency in computer-based teaching: Do students learn more deeply when they interact with animated pedagogical agents? Cognition and Instruction, 19(2), 177–213.

32.

Nahas

M. V.

Goldfine

, & Collins

M. A.

(2003). Determinants of physical activity in adolescents and young adults: The basis for high school and college physical education to promote active lifestyles. Physical Educator, 60, 42–56.

33.

Prochaska

J. O.

, & Velicer

W. F.

(1997). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12, 38–48.

34.

Sampson

Karagiannidis

, & Kinshuk

(2002). Personalized learning: Educational, technological, and standardization perspective. Interactive Education Multimedia, 4, 24–39.

35.

Schwarzer

, & Renner

(2000). Social-cognitive predictors of health behavior: Action self-efficacy and coping efficacy. Health Psychology, 19, 487–495.

36.

Sonstroem

R. J.

, & Morgan

W. P.

(1989). Exercise and self-esteem: Rationale and model. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 21, 329–337.

37.

Sweller

, & Chandler

(1994). Why some material is difficult to learn. Cognition and Instruction, 12, 185–234.

38.

Veletsianos

, & Miller

(2008). Conversing with pedagogical agents: A phenomeno-logical exploration of interacting with digital entities. British Journal of Technology, 39(6), 969–986.

39.

Whitehead

S. H.

Biddle

J. H.

O'Donovan

T. M.

, & Nevill

M. E.

(2006). Social-psychological and physical environmental factors in groups differing by levels of physical activity: A study of Scottish adolescent girls. Pediatric Exercise Science, 18, 226–239.

40.

Wyse

Mercer

Ashford

Buxton

, & Gleeson

(1995). Evidence for the validity and utility of the Stages of Exercise Behavior Change Scale in young adults. Health Education Research, 10, 365–377.