Gendered Socialization With an Embodied Agent: Creating a Social and Affable Mathematics Learning Environment for Middle-Grade Females

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred twenty 9th graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners' evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners' task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews revealed that Latina and Caucasian females built a different type of relationship with their agent and reported more positive learning experiences as compared with Caucasian males. The females' favorable view of the agent-based learning was largely influenced by their everyday classroom experiences, implying that students' learning experience in real and virtual spaces was interconnected.