Abstract

Pedagogical agents (PAs), animated or not, have received increased research attention during the last two decades. They constitute a modern and intelligent educational technology that has gained momentum due to the recent pandemic that has greatly affected education. In the framework of e-learning, PAs assume the role of mentors, guides, or facilitators who support learners through their online learning tasks. The current research focuses on the educational and pedagogical aspects of the role and uses of PAs within e-learning environments. Major concerns are the learning theories underlying PA-related educational interventions; the outcomes sought in the cognitive, social/emotional, and metacognitive domains; the evaluation tools employed; and the results measured. In a systematic literature review that covers the last fourteen years, recent published research is analyzed to answer research questions such as the popularity of PAs in teaching and learning; the frequency of PA use across education grades, contexts, and taught subjects; the design (type, form, and communication modalities) of Pas; the learning outcomes sought through the PAs across the various education domains (cognitive, social, metacognitive, affective); the evaluation tools; and the results reported. Although the results reported are predominantly positive, they are not balanced. While the cognitive (knowledge) domain is adequately researched (89% of the works), other educational/pedagogical domains of interest are under-researched: social skills (metacognitive skills) are researched by only 26 percent (18%) of the studies reviewed. Along with a surprising dominance of behaviorism, these are the most striking findings; they point toward new directions for PA research, development, and use.