Effect of robot utterances using onomatopoeia on collaborative learning

We investigated the effect of robot´s utterances using onomatopoeia on collaborative learning. The robot was designed to praise or comfort by using onomatopoeia when learners are given problem to solve through a learning system. When learners can correctly solve a problem, the robot praises the learner´s success. When learners cannot solve it, the robot comforts the learners to keep working at it. Eight college students learns mathematics by using a learning system with a robot for three weeks and took exams. We found that a robot could comfort learners that used onomatopoeia more than a robot that did not use onomatopoeia. This suggests that the robot that praises or comforts by using onomatopoeia helps learners maintain their motivation in collaborative learning.