Persisting Issues in Pedagogical Agent Research

Virtual characters have become ubiquitous in multimedia applications, appearing in numerous contexts such as characters in video games, avatars in immersive worlds, or tutors in multimedia learning environments. One type of virtual character is known as a pedagogical agent. Pedagogical agents are lifelike characters present in multimedia learning environments in order to facilitate learning. Pedagogical agents have been researched for nearly two decades, yet the effectiveness of including an agent in a learning environment remains debatable. The purpose of this study was to critically examine persisting issues in pedagogical agent research that examines the use of an agent to a nonagent condition. Our analysis of the literature highlights three persisting issues and provides promising future research directions.