Applying Learning Analytics in Serious Games Baltasar FernandezManjon
Applying Learning Analytics in Serious Games Baltasar Fernandez-Manjon e-UCM research group, www. e-ucm. es balta@fdi. ucm. es @Balta. FM École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Novembre 2014 http: //www. slideshare. net/Baltasar. Fernandez. Manjon/
About me and context • CS Professor at Complutense University • Director of e-UCM • e-UCM research group about Learning technologies • 15 researchers • Serious games • Development of technology • e. Adventure, GLEANER • Application to the medical domain • European projects RAGE -H 2020 • H 2020 – RAGE (call 21) • SEGAN • www. e-ucm. es 2
Educational games in the classroom: game • The Radix Endeavor • https: //www. radixendeavor. org • MMOG with Science, Technology, Engeneering and Math (STEM) topics • Many different quests • Adapted to middle and high school curriculum • Facilities for teachers • Class configuration • Quest assignation • Now being tested in actual settings
Educational games in the classroom: settings • Master students in the elearning class • 13 students, 8 nationalities • No previous info about the game • If stuck ask for help or watch the help videos • One hour free play • Who perform “better” at 30 minutes and at the end • Publish screen captures in the class Moodle course forum
Educational games in the classroom: outcome • Students were really engaged for the whole hour • They enjoyed the experience • Consider the game a commercial quality game • No one asked for help • All of them published the screenshots in the Moodle class forum • Educational outcome • Only 4 of the students complete more than 2 quests • Most of the students just spend the time exploring the environment but not doing anything “useful” or learning anything • Actual data can be contradictory with simple observation
Learning Analytics • Improving education based on data analysis • Data driven • Evidence-based education • Educational theories/approaches can be contrasted with actual data • Related with … • Educational data mining • Business intelligence • Visual analytics www. ed. gov/edblogs/technology/files/2012/03/edm-la-brief. pdf 6
Learning analytics steps • 1. Collecting large amounts of data from a number of channels • Interaction with the system • 2. Translating that data into information or actionable insights. • It may be impossible to track how much a student really absorbed from one lesson but the system CAN track his/her behaviour and use that as a signal • 3. Use of the information for different purposes • Personalization and adaptation. Once the system gets the signal, it can then personalize each student’s learning environment. • Assessment. Use that information formative or summative assessment • Predicting the best course in the future. As students use the system for a prolonged period of time, educators will be able to track what works and what doesn’t – and adjust accordingly. http: //www. edudemic. com/grades-2 -0 -how-learning-analytics-are-changing-the-teachers-role/
The 4 Levels of Learning Analytics • Descriptive • What has happened? • Diagnostic • Why did it happen? • Predictive • What will happen? • Prescriptive • What should I do? http: //www. edudemic. com/4 -levels-learning-analytics-graphic/
Game Analytics: a parallel world • Application of analytics to game development and research • Telemetry • Data obtained over distance • Mobile games, MMOG • Game metrics • Interpretable measures of data related to games • Player behavior • User metrics • Generics metrics • Genre specific metrics • Game specific metrics 9
Uses of Learning Analytics in educational games • Game testing – game analytics • It is the game realiable? • How many students finish the game? • Average time to complete the game? • Game evaluation • From pre-post test to learning analytics evaluation • Game deployment in the class • Real-time information for supporting the teacher • “Stealth” student evaluation • Knowing what is happening when the game is deployed in the class
The Feedback loop • Not only important the feedback but also when is provided • Learning analytics can help in improving feedback http: //safety. fhwa. dot. gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa 12004/ http: //www. wired. com/2011/06/ff_feedbackloop/
Use of the educational games: Black box model • Games as independent pieces of content • No information about what is happening during the in-game play • Or very simple • Completed or not completed • Time used del Blanco et al (2013). Using e-Learning standards in educational video games. Computer Standards & Interfaces 36 (1) pp. 178– 187 12
Designing for Learning Analytics in Games • Educational games need to be designed for Learning Analytics • Games make use of in game mechanisms for the assessment of player performance and progress • Interrelate observable in game behaviors to a competency based model related with learning outcomes rather than game performance • What are the relevant educational situations that want to be identified? • Do we have the way to communicate the game state? • Varibles, flags, identifiers Implications of Learning Analytics for Serious Game Design. Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge, Riccardo Berta, Giusy Fiucci, Baltasar Fernandez Manjon, Carmen Padron-Napoles, Wim Westera and Rob Nadolski. IEEE ICALT 2014
Use of educational/serious games at the school Takeuchi, L. M. , & Vaala, S. (2014). Level up learning: A national survey on teaching with digital games. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Use of games at the school
Our work in Serious/Educational Games
e. Adventure game platform Open code authoring environment for the production of point-and-click adventure games & immersive learning simulations Easy to include Learning Analytics in e. Adventure games http: //sourceforge. net/projects/e-adventure/
http: //first-aid-game. e-ucm. es http: //www. chermug. eu With MGH-Harvard University With ONT, educ@ONT
e. Adventure + Learning Analytics Communication API Input Logic Input Learning Analytics Database Game Engine { type: 'input', time. Stamp: some_timestamp, device: 'some_device', action: 'some_action', target: 'target_id', data: { key 1: value, . . . } } { type: 'logic', time. Stamp: some_timestamp, event: 'some_event', target: 'some_id', data: { key 1: value, . . . } }
GLEANER • GLEANER: Game Learning Analytics for education research • Open code framework to capture game traces Reference model in the EU No. E GALA, http: //e-ucm. github. io/gleaner/ Ángel Serrano-Laguna, Javier Torrente, Pablo Moreno-Ger, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón (2014): Application of Learning Analytics in Educational Videogames. Entertainment Computing, Elsevier (in press, early access available). 20
GLEANER Architecture
GLEANER Architecture - Technologies
GLEANER Analysis • Reporter has access to the database, and presents its data through reports • graphics, heat-maps, relational tables… • Evaluator has access to the database and checks the educational defined goals in the assessment model
ADL e. Xperience API (x. API) ‣ Result of Project Tin Can ‣ Tracks experiences, informal learning, real-world experiences (not just completions) ‣ Allows data storage AND retrieval (ex. 3 rd party reporting and analytics tools) ‣ Enables tracking mobile, games, ITS, and virtual worlds experiences ‣ Developed by open source community From Damon Regan (ADL) presentation at SINTICE 2013 24
Activity Streams • http: //activitystrea. ms • Collaboration between Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others • Allows reporting of experiences, not just completions • Format: <Actor> <Verb> <Object> (I did this): Simple Statement: I (actor) watched (verb) a video on protecting employee data (object) Complex: in the context of [information assurance certification training] with result [timestamp: 2013 -0618 T 18: 30: 32. 360 Z ]. From Damon Regan (ADL) presentation at SINTICE 2013 25
x. API Learning Record Store (LRS) Reporting Systems Semantic Analysis From Damon Regan (ADL) presentation at SINTICE 2013 Assessme nt Services Statistical Services 26
GLEANER traces and x. API
Example: A game to learn XML http: //gleaner. e-ucm. es/lostinspace/play/index. html
About the game. . . • A basic platform game to acquire familiarity with XML documents • Learn the syntax • Understand nesting and attributes • Gain agility writing and reading XML documents • Designed as a complementary activity in a Web Programming Course • For undergraduate computer science students • Not developed with e. Adventure
Understanding the game… Main character Write XML snippets here to move the main character to the goal Goal Power-ups (new syntax elements)
Educational goals • Basic understanding of XML Syntax • • Markup syntax Basic documents Attributes Complex documents • Basic programing skills • Sequencing • Loops
LA perspective • What does GLEANER trace? • Higher level events • Generic traces & game specific traces • Only those relevant for our learning objectives • The aggregator will filter and transmit: • Level completion events • Each XML fragment submitted by the player
Main dashboard (GLEANER Report) 33
Progress report User Session Phases completed Current score Learning achievements Achievements are updated and highlighted in real time 34
Detailed traces Filters XML snipets The fragments are updated in real time as submitted by the student. The instructor can filter to see only mistakes, or all the fragments submitted by a specific students. 35
LA simplify SG deployment in the classroom • Experiment: Gamified experience in the classroom Goals • First to complete the game • Maximum points in the game but • Initially students were not informed that LA was in place After some playing time LA data was showed to the students ‣ Instructor knows what is happening in the class ‣ Behavior change when students know that LA was in place • More oriented to success and less exploration or “playing” Ángel Serrano-Laguna, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón (2014): Applying learning analytics to simplify serious games deployment in the classroom. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) Pages 872 -877.
Experimental design and Learning Analytics • Learning Analytics should be in-line with the experimental design • Annonymization • Use of the data • Specific regulations in several domains • Medical: ethics committees
La Dama Boba : Educational game for promoting students interest in classical theater Based on The Foolish Lady by Lope de Vega The game is available at http: //damaboba. e-ucm. es/ (in Spanish) Also in in Android Market
Experiment game vs class • Teacher with an improved standard content • 757 students • From 8 middle and high schools in Madrid region • Control group and experimental group
Formal evaluation pre-post • Off-line learning analytics • Formal evaluation of games is very complex and expensive • Pre-test • Post-test • Very few games have been formally probed to be effective • Similar results with Learning Analytics than with pre-post test? 40
learning analytics outcomes: scores, time, . . .
How the user play the game? 42
Open issues in learning analytics in games • How to distinguish automatically game exploration from conceptual errors? • Traces across different types of games • Long term learning across games
Other important issues in LA • Ethical and legal aspects • Security model • Ownership of information • Informing the user • Anonymization of information • Aspects specially relevant if you are working with kids or in the medical domain! 44
Conclusions • LA in Serious Games has a great potential from the application and research perspective • Ease the deplyment of game in the classroom • Simplify game evaluation with users • LA in Serious Games should benefits from Games Analytics experience and work • Still complex to implement LA in SG • Increases the (already high) cost of the games • Frameworks and new standards specifications could greatly simplify LA implementation and adoption 45
Thank you! balta@fdi. ucm. es @Balta. FM 46
Our current projects RAGE H 2020 ICT 2014 -21ª Realising an Applied Gaming Eco-system
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