Humour in Educational Robots: Investigating the Effects of Humour in a Robot-Led Scrumban Simulation in Business Education

Abstract

Educational robots have been used as technologies to support social interactions with learners and enhance both cognitive and affective learning outcomes. While studies have shown positive impact of humour both in education and human-robot interaction, little is known about the impact of humour enacted by educational robots. This paper presents a between-subjects, randomized study, that explored the effects of humour on the perception of the robot competence and facilitation, as well as learning experience, and outcomes of 30 undergraduate students during a Scrumban simulation with the robot NAO in business education settings. The humorous version was programmed using positive humour with selected jokes and witty remarks generated by ChatGPT. The results of statistical analysis showed a range of differences in the perception of the robotic facilitator, the learning experience, and the learning outcomes in the humorous compared to the neutral condition. The results of the study provide preliminary evidence on the effects of humour in educational robots. While this study demonstrates the potential of “humoroids" and the participants favoured robot-enacted humour as a means to create a more enjoyable and relaxed learning environment, the generalisability of the results is limited by the absence of statistically significant findings.