# Curiosity Notebook: The Design of a Research Platform for Learning by Teaching

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.09809 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.09809/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 22 Aug 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Teach AI How to Code: Using Large Language Models as Teachable Agents for Programming Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14534/) (2023)
- [PeerGPT: Probing the Roles of LLM-based Peer Agents as Team Moderators and Participants in Children's Collaborative Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14227/) (2024)
- [Natural Language Communication with a Teachable Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.09016/) (2022)
- [Impact of Experiencing Misrecognition by Teachable Agents on Learning and Rapport](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.07302/) (2023)
- [Robots and Children that Learn Together : Improving Knowledge Retention by Teaching Peer-Like Interactive Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.18365/) (2025)
- [Beyond prior knowledge: The predictive role of knowledge-building in Tutor Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.18545/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

While learning by teaching is a popular pedagogical technique, it is a learning phenomenon that is difficult to study due to variability in the tutor-tutee pairings and learning environments. In this paper, we introduce the Curiosity Notebook, a web-based research infrastructure for studying learning by teaching via the use of a teachable agent. We describe and provide rationale for the set of features that are essential for such a research infrastructure, outline how these features have evolved over two design iterations of the Curiosity Notebook and through two studies -- a 4-week field study with 12 elementary school students interacting with a NAO robot and an hour-long online observational study with 41 university students interacting with an agent -- demonstrate the utility of our platform for making observations of learning-by-teaching phenomena in diverse learning environments. Based on these findings, we conclude the paper by reflecting on our design evolution and envisioning future iterations of the Curiosity Notebook.