University of Dublin Trinity College Adaptive Educational Games: Providing Non-invasive Personalised Learning Experiences Neil Peirce, Owen Conlan, Vincent Wade Trinity College Dublin 17 th November 2008 DIGITEL 2008, Banff, Canada

University of Dublin Trinity College Overview Motivation Proposal Our Approach Design Architecture Case Study Experimental Results 2

University of Dublin Trinity College Motivation Current Situation Growing Interest in Serious Games Motivating Learning Environments Current Problems Entertaining but with limited educational benefit Breaking the game Shavian Reversals 3

University of Dublin Trinity College Proposal Perhaps we can enhance learning in games using Adaptation Adapt the game for each player so we can provide a personalised learning experience Example – Macroadaptivity/ Microadaptivity Problems and Pitfalls Breaking the game when we modify it Game Narrative and Flow Tight integration adds to game development complexity 4

University of Dublin Trinity College Our Approach What if… We non-invasively modify the game Preserving Narrative, Flow, and gameplay We provide the adaptation as service Not Embedded Reusable, Flexible, Extensible A Separation of Educational Adaptation and Game Logic 5

University of Dublin Trinity College Design Key Aspects Inferred Evidence Context Accumulation Adaptive Elements Multi-stage constraint Motivation Flow Experience Meta-Cognitive Support Meta-Reflection Support Ludic Activities Narrative Learning Styles Game Design Educational Adaptation Know the User Know the Game Know the impact of Changes 6

University of Dublin Trinity College Game Interface Game Output Player/NPC locations Player task success Player requests Confidence feedback Adaptation Output References to Adaptive Elements to activate 7

University of Dublin Trinity College Architecture Generic Adaptation Potentially Reusable Mapping between game specifics and abstracted adaptation Ability to author/modify the game and adaptation independently 8

University of Dublin Trinity College Architecture 9

University of Dublin Trinity College Implementation Standalone Java Application Utilises JBoss Drools Rule Engine Adaptation, Constraint, and Inference Rules Fast & Scalable Custom CbKST implementation <50ms response times Game Engine Communication via TCP socket Custom protocol 10

University of Dublin Trinity College Case Study - ELEKTRA 11 FP6 EU Commission Project Immersive 3D Game Narrative driven adventure Physics of Optics for year olds Multiple Forms of Adaptation Realised

University of Dublin Trinity College Adaptive Element Example Adaptation Reducing Skill Trend Identified Player Confidence Degrees Do Not Match Task Successes 12 Wood is a medium-weight and non-magnetic material. It is not influenced by the magnet, but can be influenced by the fan You're successful in finding the solution. But you are not showing me that I can trust your judgment Adaptive Element

University of Dublin Trinity College Adaptation Setup Rules Authoring (65 rules) Adaptive Element Constraint Rule flows Knowledge Space Theory (KST) Ontology Adaptive Element Authoring (197 elements) Im not sure what you did will help us to solve the problem. …but you were right to stay cautious Some concepts may be new to you, but dont be discouraged. 13

University of Dublin Trinity College Experimental Results No adverse affect on flow Higher amount of invested effort and a higher degree of absorbedness Higher relatedness with the Galileo NPC Higher usefulness of the slope device Higher confidence in their own learning achievement Easier handling (lower Extraneous Cognitive Load) of the slope device Approach to solution neutral hintadaptive hintcounter-adaptive hint no hint Hint type Mean approach 14

University of Dublin Trinity College Related Work Façade Tactical Language & Cultural Training System (TLCTS) ELEKTRA Project ( 80Days Project ( 15

University of Dublin Trinity College Conclusion Novel Approach Promising results Future Work Additional game in development 16

University of Dublin Trinity College Questions 17