{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124256"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124256","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"When Less Can Be More: Evaluating the Impact of Animated and Interactive Demonstrations in Voice-Assisted Counting Games for Young Children","abstract":"Early experiences with counting form a critical foundation for children's numeracy development. Despite the increasing use of voice assistants in young children's math learning, the effectiveness of different levels of demonstration—animated and interactive—accompanied by these assistants remains unclear. This study examines how different demonstrations in touchscreen devices, combined with voice assistants, supported children's developing counting skills. We developed a tablet counting game for children aged 2-4 years, incorporating voice assistant counting. In a user study with 32 children, we compared two conditions (animated and interactive demonstrations), with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. We found that animated demonstrations improved math performance compared to the baseline, while interactive demonstrations did not. These findings suggest that counting with voice assistants has the potential to support early counting experiences and highlight the importance of designing educational technology with appropriate levels of demonstration to engage young learners without increasing cognitive overload.","abstract_html":"Early experiences with counting form a critical foundation for children's numeracy development. Despite the increasing use of voice assistants in young children's math learning, the effectiveness of different levels of demonstration—animated and interactive—accompanied by these assistants remains unclear. This study examines how different demonstrations in touchscreen devices, combined with voice assistants, supported children's developing counting skills. We developed a tablet counting game for children aged 2-4 years, incorporating voice assistant counting. In a user study with 32 children, we compared two conditions (animated and interactive demonstrations), with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. We found that animated demonstrations improved math performance compared to the baseline, while interactive demonstrations did not. These findings suggest that counting with voice assistants has the potential to support early counting experiences and highlight the importance of designing educational technology with appropriate levels of demonstration to engage young learners without increasing cognitive overload.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Karunaratna, Sulakna Binoka Kumarihamy"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science & Applications","degree_department":"Computer Science and#38; Applications","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Lee, Sang Won","Choi, Koeun"],"committee_members":["Chen, Yan"],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-17","date_published":"2025-01-17","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:52Z","subjects":["Touch screen","children","Counting"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:42350"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:42350","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124256","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Lee, Sang Won","Choi, Koeun"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Chen, Yan"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Computer Science and#38; Applications"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Karunaratna, Sulakna Binoka Kumarihamy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-01-18T09:01:01Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-01-18T09:01:01Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-01-17"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science & Applications"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Touch screen","children","Counting"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:42350"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124256"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Early experiences with counting form a critical foundation for children's numeracy development. Despite the increasing use of voice assistants in young children's math learning, the effectiveness of different levels of demonstration—animated and interactive—accompanied by these assistants remains unclear. This study examines how different demonstrations in touchscreen devices, combined with voice assistants, supported children's developing counting skills. We developed a tablet counting game for children aged 2-4 years, incorporating voice assistant counting. In a user study with 32 children, we compared two conditions (animated and interactive demonstrations), with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. We found that animated demonstrations improved math performance compared to the baseline, while interactive demonstrations did not. These findings suggest that counting with voice assistants has the potential to support early counting experiences and highlight the importance of designing educational technology with appropriate levels of demonstration to engage young learners without increasing cognitive overload."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Counting is an important foundation for young children's math skills. As voice assistants become increasingly common in educational technologies, we explored levels of demonstrations such as animated and interactive accompanied by voice assistants on children aged 2-4 to learn how it affects counting. We developed a tablet-based counting game with a voice assistant to explore these different levels of demonstrations. In a study of 32 children, we compared the two approaches: animated and interactive demonstrations, with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. Interestingly, the animated condition improved counting abilities more than the interactive condition, suggesting that too much interaction might overwhelm young children. These findings can help designers create better educational games that balance interactions and learning without increasing cognitive overload."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["When Less Can Be More: Evaluating the Impact of Animated and Interactive Demonstrations in Voice-Assisted Counting Games for Young Children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Lee, Sang Won","Choi, Koeun"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Chen, Yan"],"dc:contributor.department":["Computer Science and#38; Applications"],"dc:creator":["Karunaratna, Sulakna Binoka Kumarihamy"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-01-18T09:01:01Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-01-18T09:01:01Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-01-17"],"dc:description.abstract":["Early experiences with counting form a critical foundation for children's numeracy development. Despite the increasing use of voice assistants in young children's math learning, the effectiveness of different levels of demonstration—animated and interactive—accompanied by these assistants remains unclear. This study examines how different demonstrations in touchscreen devices, combined with voice assistants, supported children's developing counting skills. We developed a tablet counting game for children aged 2-4 years, incorporating voice assistant counting. In a user study with 32 children, we compared two conditions (animated and interactive demonstrations), with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. We found that animated demonstrations improved math performance compared to the baseline, while interactive demonstrations did not. These findings suggest that counting with voice assistants has the potential to support early counting experiences and highlight the importance of designing educational technology with appropriate levels of demonstration to engage young learners without increasing cognitive overload."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Counting is an important foundation for young children's math skills. As voice assistants become increasingly common in educational technologies, we explored levels of demonstrations such as animated and interactive accompanied by voice assistants on children aged 2-4 to learn how it affects counting. We developed a tablet-based counting game with a voice assistant to explore these different levels of demonstrations. In a study of 32 children, we compared the two approaches: animated and interactive demonstrations, with each condition also being evaluated against a baseline. Interestingly, the animated condition improved counting abilities more than the interactive condition, suggesting that too much interaction might overwhelm young children. These findings can help designers create better educational games that balance interactions and learning without increasing cognitive overload."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:42350"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124256"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Touch screen","children","Counting"],"dc:title":["When Less Can Be More: Evaluating the Impact of Animated and Interactive Demonstrations in Voice-Assisted Counting Games for Young Children"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science & Applications"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:52Z"}