A feedback system for a children's helpline training-chatbot

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

A.A. Braam Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Contributors

W.P. Brinkman Interactive Intelligence - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
M. Al Owayyed Interactive Intelligence - EEMCS (mentor)
Ujwal Gadiraju Web Information Systems - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Copyright: © 2023 Ayrton Braam
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Published Date

12-12-2023

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Abstract

De Kindertelefoon is a children's helpline aimed at providing (pre-)adolescents with a person to talk to for a variety of subjects such as bullying, sex, and abuse. These people who talk for De Kindertelefoon need proper training and guidance. Among the tools that De Kindertelefoon provides is the 5-phase model, a conversational model. Researchers set up a simulation of a virtual child and De Kindertelefoon to help teach the 5-phase model. However, simulation alone was not enough, and we wanted to see if a feedback system could improve the results, with immediate feedback being the focus.
Immediate feedback is when the user fills in an answer and the system immediately provides information to strengthen knowledge.
When applied to an academic environment, both immediate feedback and student engagement have been proven to be important for completing a task.

Using a literature review, we found that immediate feedback can be directly linked to educational techniques such as self-improvement, self-efficacy, and the Self-Determination Theory. Through a focus group, we also found that constructive immediate feedback is an important pillar of De Kindertelefoon.

The design was achieved by looking at the existing and limited 5-phase model as a graph and trying to find an optimal path through that graph.

After conducting a within-subjects study experiment with 34 participants, the results were inconclusive, with neither condition appearing to be more useful for the group of participants, nor either condition being better at teaching them the 5-phase model.
As the results were inconclusive, the data was explored more by looking at it as a between-subject study, which showed that the explanation sheet might perform better for knowledge.

The research shows the possible strength of feedback in a practical manner. From the results, the immediate feedback is neither more nor less resonant than a classical approach to teaching the 5-phase model.