{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]],"date-time":"2026-07-22T16:15:00Z","timestamp":1784736900011,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)","issue":"106","content-domain":{"domain":["www.science.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sci. Robot."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    According to productive failure (PF) theory, experiencing failure during problem-solving can enhance students\u2019 knowledge acquisition in subsequent instruction. However, challenging students with problems beyond their current capabilities may strain their skills, prior knowledge, and emotional well-being. To address this, we designed a social robot\u2013assisted teaching activity in which students observed a robot\u2019s unsuccessful problem-solving attempts, offering a PF-like preparatory effect without requiring direct failure. We conducted two classroom-based studies in a middle school setting to evaluate the method\u2019s effectiveness. In study 1 (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0135), we compared three instructional methods\u2014observing robot failure (RF), individual problem-solving failure, and direct instruction\u2014in an eighth-grade mathematics lesson. Students in the RF condition showed the greatest gains in conceptual understanding and reported lower social pressure, although no significant differences were found in procedural knowledge or knowledge transfer. Follow-up study 2 (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0110) further validated the method\u2019s effectiveness in supporting knowledge acquisition after a 2-week robot-involved adaptation phase, when the novelty effect had largely subsided. Students confirmed their perception of the robot as a peer, and they offered positive evaluations of its intelligence and neutral views of its anthropomorphism. Our findings suggest that observing the robot\u2019s failure has a comparable, or even greater, effect on knowledge acquisition than experiencing failure firsthand. These results underscore the value of social robots as peers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and highlight the potential of integrating robotics with evidence-based teaching strategies to enhance learning outcomes.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.adu5257","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T17:58:13Z","timestamp":1757527093000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34133\/aaas_crossmark","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Observing a robot peer\u2019s failures facilitates students\u2019 classroom learning"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9049-0394","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Liuqing","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1994-7176","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yu","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5604-5449","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yuyang","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8064-7002","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ziqi","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1084-3949","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Duowei","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8945-5764","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jiaxiang","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Software Technology, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-0615-0607","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Shuhong","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2664-4386","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yaxuan","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-8033-311X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lingwei","family":"Zhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1273-9465","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Juanjuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5561-0493","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lingyun","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"221","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/S1532690XCI2103_01"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/07370000802212669"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41539-023-00165-y"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-016-9379-x"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3102\/00346543211019105"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11251-012-9209-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/cogs.12107"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10508406.2013.819000"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_2","unstructured":"C. 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