Eliciting curiosity 鈥 the intrinsic desire to explore and to find new information 鈥 enhances learning, promotes information-seeking and improves memory. Understanding how to elicit and maintain curiosity in students could help us design educational robots that stimulate interest, engagement and a quest for knowledge.
鈥淲e鈥檙e conducting a number of studies that examine human鈥搑obot interaction, in particular if a robot peer expresses curiosity does its inquisitiveness spark curiosity in students,鈥 said , a Professor at the Cheriton School of Computer Science and member of its lab.
To explore the role of curiosity in learning, Professor Law and her research team conducted an experiment using a cooperative rock-classification game that a participant and an educational robot play together. Its goal was to see if curiosity could be fostered in participants through the verbal behaviour of a social robot.
about their research.