# Supporting Productivity Skill Development in College Students through Social Robot Coaching: A Proof-of-Concept

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.01105 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.01105/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 52 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Nov 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Understanding the Role of Large Language Models in Personalizing and Scaffolding Strategies to Combat Academic Procrastination](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.13581/) (2023)
- [A Robotic Positive Psychology Coach to Improve College Students' Wellbeing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.03829/) (2020)
- [Design and Evaluation of a Socially Assistive Robot Schoolwork Companion for College Students with ADHD](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.06289/) (2024)
- [PlanGlow: Personalized Study Planning with an Explainable and Controllable LLM-Driven System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.12452/) (2025)
- [Steve: LLM Powered ChatBot for Career Progression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.03789/) (2025)
- [Developing Autonomous Robot-Mediated Behavior Coaching Sessions with Haru](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11569/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

College students often face academic challenges that hamper their productivity and well-being. Although self-help books and productivity apps are popular, they often fall short. Books provide generalized, non-interactive guidance, and apps are not inherently educational and can hinder the development of key organizational skills. Traditional productivity coaching offers personalized support, but is resource-intensive and difficult to scale. In this study, we present a proof-of-concept for a socially assistive robot (SAR) as an educational coach and a potential solution to the limitations of existing productivity tools and coaching approaches. The SAR delivers six different lessons on time management and task prioritization. Users interact via a chat interface, while the SAR responds through speech (with a toggle option). An integrated dashboard monitors progress, mood, engagement, confidence per lesson, and time spent per lesson. It also offers personalized productivity insights to foster reflection and self-awareness. We evaluated the system with 15 college students, achieving a System Usability Score of 79.2 and high ratings for overall experience and engagement. Our findings suggest that SAR-based productivity coaching can offer an effective and scalable solution to improve productivity among college students.