Teachers' disappointment: Theoretical perspective on the inclusion of ambivalent emotions in human-robot interactions in education

Abstract

Following affective turn in cognitive science, recent decades have witnessed an increasing interest toward the role of emotions in education. Ample evidence suggests that learners and teachers experience a variety of emotions, ranging from joy and pride to anger and frustration. However, when it comes to the design of affective behavior in robotic systems for education purposes, the emphasis has been predominantly on communication of positive emotions. While we recognize that positive emotions are fundamental to successful learning, in this paper we wish to make the case for the consideration of ambivalent emotions for the design of social robots for tutoring. To ground this proposal, we focus on the emotion of teachers' disappointment. First, we discuss under which conditions communicated teachers' disappointment, while it may be experienced as emotionally ambivalent by teachers and students, functions as an affiliating pedagogical strategy. We proceed to sketch out the methodological suggestions we consider relevant for future studies of communicated disappointment in human-robot interactions within learning contexts. We conclude with critical reflections about the ethics of responsible designs of such studies.