# Pedagogical Agents for Fostering Question-Asking Skills in Children

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.03472 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.03472/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 Apr 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [GPT-3-driven pedagogical agents for training children's curious question-asking skills](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.14228/) (2022)
- [TeachTune: Reviewing Pedagogical Agents Against Diverse Student Profiles with Simulated Students](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.04078/) (2024)
- [Words of Wisdom: Representational Harms in Learning From AI Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.08581/) (2021)
- [Designing Smarter Conversational Agents for Kids: Lessons from Cognitive Work and Means-Ends Analyses](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.21209/) (2025)
- [GenQ: Automated Question Generation to Support Caregivers While Reading Stories with Children](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16809/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Question asking is an important tool for constructing academic knowledge, and a self-reinforcing driver of curiosity. However, research has found that question asking is infrequent in the classroom and children's questions are often superficial, lacking deep reasoning. In this work, we developed a pedagogical agent that encourages children to ask divergent-thinking questions, a more complex form of questions that is associated with curiosity. We conducted a study with 95 fifth grade students, who interacted with an agent that encourages either convergent-thinking or divergent-thinking questions. Results showed that both interventions increased the number of divergent-thinking questions and the fluency of question asking, while they did not significantly alter children's perception of curiosity despite their high intrinsic motivation scores. In addition, children's curiosity trait has a mediating effect on question asking under the divergent-thinking agent, suggesting that question-asking interventions must be personalized to each student based on their tendency to be curious.