We researched the impact of gendered pedagogical agents on student attitudes for math, motivation and achievement in math, within the context of an adaptive tutoring software for high school mathematics. Learning companions emphasize perseverance by valuing effort in challenging tasks. They are also empathetic, as they reflect students emotional states. The results suggest that, across two studies, it was the male learning companion that produced the most positive impact on female students state-based emotions, attitudes and learning. It is possible that girls transfer their stereotypes to the computer software.

Paper