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MathKingdom: Teaching Children Mathematical Language Through Speaking at Home via a Voice-Guided Game

Published: 19 April 2023 Publication History

Abstract

The amount and quality of mathematical language in the family are positively associated with promoting children’s mathematical abilities. However, mathematical language in many families is poor. Through need-finding investigation, we developed MathKingdom, a voice-agent-based game that helps children aged 4–7 learn and use rich, accurate mathematical language (e.g., mathematical expressions related to measurement, sequence, patterns). The game has four flows, in which users can wake up, transform, decorate, and perform as their avatars, as well as practice basic mathematical vocabulary, mathematical single sentences, coherent mathematical statements, and free expression. We refined the system design through wizard-of-oz testing and then evaluated it with 18 families. The results showed that MathKingdom effectively engaged children, enhanced their mathematical language skills and mathematical abilities, and encouraged parent-child conversations about math.

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    CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 2023
    14911 pages
    ISBN:9781450394215
    DOI:10.1145/3544548
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    Published: 19 April 2023

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    2. Embodied game
    3. Mathematical language
    4. Voice agent

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