Automated Stock Trading – Developing the Serious Game FSTG to Teach the Topic of Finite State Machines

Matthias Utesch ,Helmut Krcmar,Andreas Hauer,Robert Heininger

doi:10.3991/ijep.v7i1.6524

Abstract

A new methodology to teach about the topic of Finite State Machines is presented in this paper. For this purpose, nine learning objectives which are classified into the three categories Basics of Finite State Machines, parallels between Finite State Machines and stock trading, and the application of Finite State Machines were developed and implemented into a Serious Game solution. This paper covers the third category about the application of Finite State Machines and its use to create Artificial Intelligence. The learning objectives were determined by using the widely-known Taxonomy of Bloom and integrated into the Serious Game The Finite State Trading Game (FSTG). In this turn-based trading game, the user aims to beat a Non-Player Character by skillfully trading shares while the user faces increasing complexity throughout the game. For the evaluation of the Serious Game approach a pre-test and post-test setting was performed with students of a local upper vocational school class at the Technical University of Munich. The results of the following analysis demonstrated significant progress in terms of the students’ knowledge about Finite State Machines for every tested statement.

Highlights

Computer games are enjoying an increasing popularity all over the world: for example, the average gamer plays twelve years in his or her life and 72 percent of the households in the United States playing video games [1]
This paper focuses on the test statements TS_8_D3 to TS_10_D5
The answers were lopsided to the negative side with only about 18.33% of the answers being on the positive side

Summary

Introduction

Computer games are enjoying an increasing popularity all over the world: for example, the average gamer plays twelve years in his or her life and 72 percent of the households in the United States playing video games [1]. Many people are not aware of the fact that all these games – as well as many other applications, like traffic lights – are based on so-called Finite State Machines (FSMs). FSMs are used to create and represent the logic of these actions. The National Institute for Standardization and Technology (NIST) defines an FSM as a “model of computation consisting of a set of states, a start state, an input alphabet, and a transition function that maps input symbols and current states to a state” [2]. FSMs represent a core concept regarding automation. Automation is part of the curriculum at upper vocational school (UVS) in Bavaria, Germany [3], as well as at IT-related degree courses, e.g. in the Bachelor’s Program of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) [4, 5]

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Conclusion