Learner Modeling Using Educational Games: A Review of the Literature

Mohamed Ali Khenissi,Fathi Essalmi,Kinshuk Kinshuk,Mohamed Jemni

doi:10.1186/s40561-015-0014-y

Mohamed Ali Khenissi, Fathi Essalmi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-015-0014-y

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Abstract

Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of games in education. Educational games have been found to stimulate learners by increasing their motivation and engagement. In addition, educational games could be used for creating the learner model. In fact, these games provide ample opportunities for learner’s interactions with the computer which can be exploited for creating a reliable learner model. This papera presents a survey of the field of learner modeling using educational games, describing the main methods and proposing taxonomy to better organize them. The paper also enumerates several educational games that are suitable for experimentation. This synthesis is expected to not only help the researchers and developers working in this field but also pedagogues and teachers who plan to integrate these approaches in educational context.

Highlights

A learner model is a key component of any adaptive e-learning system as it maintains information about learners in order to provide them adaptation according to their current learning needs
The paper enumerates several educational games that are suitable for experimentation. This synthesis is expected to help the researchers and developers working in this field and pedagogues and teachers who plan to integrate these approaches in educational context
Evaluation of questionnaire Learner modeling can be performed through evaluating the learner's answers to a questionnaire at the beginning, during or at the end of the educational game

Summary

Introduction

A learner model is a key component of any adaptive e-learning system as it maintains information about learners in order to provide them adaptation according to their current learning needs. Learner’s learning experiences were assessed in Moreno-Ger et al (2009) by monitoring and recording interaction between the learner and the educational game, generating a trace of the actions performed by the learner during the play sessions, tracking a lot of different parameters in the game and assigning points to the most relevant actions. Strategy Modeling is used to implicitly elicit information about the learners (Moreno-Ger et al 2008; Noguez et al 2009; Rebolledo-Mendez et al 2009; Kopeinik et al 2012) It concerns long-term learner behavior during the use of an educational game as composed of a series of learner actions.

Discussion

16 Instruction Right Place Game

Conclusion