Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills with Smart Personal Assistant Technology

Winkler, Rainer; Söllner, Matthias; Leimeister, Jan Marco

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104148

Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills with Smart Personal Assistant Technology

Type

journal article

Date Issued

2021

Author(s)

Winkler, Rainer

;

Söllner, Matthias

;

Leimeister, Jan Marco

DOI

10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104148

Abstract (De)

Smart Personal Assistants (SPAs; such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant) let users interact with computers in a more natural and sophisticated way that was not
possible before. Although there exists an increasing amount of research of SPA technology in education, empirical evidence of its ability to offer dynamic scaffolding to
enhance students problem-solving skills is still scarce. To fill this gap, the aim of this paper is to find out whether interactions with scaffolding-based SPA technology enable
students to internalize and apply problem-solving steps on their own in a 10th grade high school and a vocational business school class. Students in the experiment classes completed their assignments using Smart Personal Assistants, whereas students in the control classes completed the same assignments using traditional methods. This study used a mixed-method approach consisting of two field quasi-experiments and one postexperiment focus group discussion. The empirical results revealed that students in the experiment classes acquired significantly more problem-solving skills than those in the control classes (Study 1: p = 0.0396, study 2: p < 0.001), and also uncovered several
changes in students’ learning processes. The findings provide first empirical evidence for the value of using SPA technology on skill development in general, and on problem-solving skill development in particular.

Language

English

HSG Profile Area

SoM - Business Innovation

Refereed

Yes

Publisher

Comptuers & Education

Publisher place

Elsevier

URL

https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/111436

Subject(s)

information managemen...

education

business studies

Division(s)

IWI - Institute of In...

Eprints ID

262209

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