Page 230 - Socially Intelligent Agents Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots

Chapter 26

SOCIALLY INTELLIGENT AGENTS
IN EDUCATIONAL GAMES

Cristina Conati and Maria Klawe
University of British Columbia

Abstract We describe preliminary research on devising intelligent agents that can improve
the educational effectiveness of collaborative, educational computer games. We
illustrate how these agents can overcome some of the shortcomings of educational
gamesbyexplicitlymonitoringhowstudentsinteractwiththegames, bymodeling
both the students’ cognitive and emotional states, and by generating calibrated
interventions to trigger constructive reasoning and reflection when needed.

1. Introduction
Several authors have suggested the potential of video and computer games
as educational tools. However empirical studies have shown that, although
educational games are usually highly engaging, they often do not trigger the
constructive reasoning necessary for learning [4] [12]. For instance, studies
performed by the EGEMS (Electronic Games for Education in Math and Sci-
ence) project at the University of British Columbia have shown that the tested
educational games were effective only when coupled with supporting class-
room activities, such as related pencil and paper worksheets and discussions
with teachers. Without these supporting activities, despite enthusiastic game
playing, the learning that these games generated was usually rather limited [12].
An explanation of these findings is that it is often possible to learn how to play
an educational game effectively without necessarily reasoning about the target
domain knowledge [4]. Insightful learning requires meta-cognitive skills that
foster consciousreflection upon one’sactions[6], but reflectivecognition is hard
work. Possibly, for many students the high level of engagement triggered by the
game acts as a distraction from reflective cognition, especially when the game
is not integrated with external activities that help ground the game experience
into the learning one. Also, educational games are usually highly exploratory