Design Science Research for Development and Validation of a Pedagogical Agent for STEM Education

Abstract

Choosing a research methodology allows for a path for the development and operationalization of any investigation. Consider as a problem the traditional teaching practices, which consider the student as a passive actor in learning, which disagrees with the pedagogical tendencies centered on the student that lead to the construction of leading, creative, and autonomous citizens. On the other hand, a pedagogical agent, that is, an "artificial teacher" can be considered as an artifact from the epistemic base of Design Science, an artifact that in turn could solve the aforementioned problem. Design Science dedicates to the study of objects and associated artificial phenomena. The pedagogical agent (artifact) is arranged as an object, which merits a methodological process in search of solving the problem. Hence, the methodology Design Science Research is proposed within the framework of a doctoral thesis as the methodology that would allow: the development and validation of the agent; generalize findings of the problem to new kinds of problems and / or contexts; and finally, disseminate academic results.