ERIC Number: ED593118
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jul
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
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Filtered Time Series Analyses of Student Problem-Solving Behaviors in Game-Based Learning
Sawyer, Robert; Rowe, Jonathan; Azevedo, Roger; Lester, James
International Educational Data Mining Society, Paper presented at the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) (11th, Raleigh, NC, Jul 16-20, 2018)
Student interactions with game-based learning environments produce a wide range of in-game problem-solving sequences. These sequences can be viewed as trajectories through a game's problem-solving space. In this paper, we present a general framework for analyzing students' problem-solving behavior in game-based learning environments by filtering their gameplay action sequences into time series representing trajectories through the game's problem-solving space. This framework was investigated with data from a laboratory study conducted with 68 college students tasked with solving the problem scenario in a game-based learning environment for microbiology education, CRYSTAL ISLAND. Using this representation of student problem solving, we derive the slope of the problem-solving trajectories and lock-step Euclidean distance to an expert problem-solving trajectory. Analyses indicate that the trajectory slope and temporal distance to an expert path are both correlated with students' normalized learning gains, as well as a complementary measure of in-game problem-solving performance. The results suggest that the filtered time series framework for analyzing student problem-solving behavior shows significant promise for assessing the temporal nature of student problem solving during game-based learning. [For the full proceedings, see ED593090.]
Descriptors: Educational Games, Teaching Methods, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Science Instruction, Microbiology, Problem Solving, Program Effectiveness, Computer Simulation, College Students, College Science, Proximity
International Educational Data Mining Society. e-mail: admin@educationaldatamining.org; Web site: http://www.educationaldatamining.org
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
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Language: English
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