Colette Hume

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Colette Hume is a researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction and educational technology, with a primary focus on developing socially intelligent robots for learning environments. Her most cited work, "Map reading with an empathic robot tutor" (2016, 6 citations), was developed as part of the EMOTE project, which aims to create empathic robot tutors for 11-13 year old students. In this foundational video submission, Hume demonstrates how robots can assist students in learning and testing map reading skills—a pedagogical domain that requires both spatial reasoning and sustained engagement. Her major contribution lies in integrating empathy into robotic tutoring systems, enabling machines to recognize and respond to students' emotional states during learning tasks. While her citation count is modest, her work represents an early and important step toward personalized, emotionally-aware educational technology. By focusing on the critical transition years of early adolescence, Hume addresses a key developmental period where student motivation often declines. Her research continues to influence the design of adaptive learning companions that can foster deeper engagement and improve educational outcomes through affective computing.