Mathematical language is a cornerstone of a child's mathematical development, and children can effectively acquire this language through storytelling with a knowledgeable and engaging partner. In this study, we leverage the recent advances in large language models to conduct free-form, creative conversations with children. Consequently, we developed Mathemyths, a joint storytelling agent that takes turns co-creating stories with children while integrating mathematical terms into the evolving narrative. This paper details our development process, illustrating how prompt-engineering can optimize LLMs for educational contexts. Through a user study involving 35 children aged 4-8 years, our results suggest that when children interacted with Mathemyths, their learning of mathematical language was comparable to those who co-created stories with a human partner. However, we observed differences in how children engaged with co-creation partners of different natures. Overall, we believe that LLM applications, like Mathemyths, offer children a unique conversational experience pertaining to focused learning objectives.

翻译：数学语言是儿童数学发展的基石，而儿童通过与知识渊博且充满互动性的伙伴进行故事讲述，可有效习得该语言。本研究利用大型语言模型的最新进展，与儿童开展自由形式的创造性对话。据此，我们开发了Mathemyths——一种联合故事讲述智能体，该智能体与儿童轮流共创故事，同时将数学术语融入不断演进的叙事中。本文详述了我们的开发流程，阐释了如何通过提示工程优化大型语言模型以适应教育场景。通过对35名4-8岁儿童的用户研究，结果表明：当儿童与Mathemyths互动时，其数学语言学习效果与与人类伙伴共创故事的儿童相当。然而，我们观察到儿童在参与不同性质的共创伙伴互动时存在差异。总体而言，我们认为诸如Mathemyths这类大型语言模型应用，能围绕聚焦的学习目标为儿童提供独特的对话体验。