Do preschoolers ‘Game the system’? : a case study of children’s intelligent (Mis)use of a teachable agent based play-&-learn game in mathematics
(2018) 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2018 In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) 10947 LNAI. p.557-569- Abstract
For learning to take place in digital learning environments, learners need to use educational software – more or less – as intended. However, previous studies show that some school children, instead of trying to learn and master a skill, choose to systematically exploit or outsmart the system to gain progress. But what about preschoolers? The present study explores the presence of this kind of behavioral patterns among preschoolers who use a teachable agent-based play-&-learn game in early math. We analyzed behavioral data logs together with interviews and observations. We also analyzed action patterns deviating from the pedagogical design intentions in terms of non-harmful gaming, harmful gaming, and wheel-spinning. Our results... (More)
For learning to take place in digital learning environments, learners need to use educational software – more or less – as intended. However, previous studies show that some school children, instead of trying to learn and master a skill, choose to systematically exploit or outsmart the system to gain progress. But what about preschoolers? The present study explores the presence of this kind of behavioral patterns among preschoolers who use a teachable agent-based play-&-learn game in early math. We analyzed behavioral data logs together with interviews and observations. We also analyzed action patterns deviating from the pedagogical design intentions in terms of non-harmful gaming, harmful gaming, and wheel-spinning. Our results reveal that even if pedagogically not intended use of the game did occur, harmful gaming was rare. Interestingly, the results also indicate an unexpected awareness in children of what it means to learn and to teach. Finally, we present a series of possible adjustments of the used software in order to decrease gaming-like behavior or strategies that signalize insufficient skills or poor learning.
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- author
- Ternblad, Eva Maria ; Haake, Magnus LU ; Anderberg, Erik LU and Gulz, Agneta LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-01-01
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Gaming the system, Learning-by-teaching, Preschoolers, Teachable agent, Wheel-spinning
- host publication
- Artificial Intelligence in Education : 19th International Conference, AIED 2018, Proceedings - 19th International Conference, AIED 2018, Proceedings
- series title
- Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
- editor
- Penstein Rosé, Carolyn ; Martínez-Maldonado, Roberto ; Hoppe, Ulrich H. ; Luckin, Rose ; Mavrikis, Manolis ; Porayska-Pomsta, Kaska ; McLaren, Bruce and du Boulay, Benedict
- volume
- 10947 LNAI
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- conference name
- 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2018
- conference location
- London, United Kingdom
- conference dates
- 2018-06-27 - 2018-06-30
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85049373636
- ISSN
- 1611-3349
- 0302-9743
- ISBN
- 9783319938424
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_41
- project
- Thinking in Time: Cognition, Communication and Learning
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2b16ab37-d329-40f1-909d-4558e42f4d2f
- date added to LUP
- 2018-07-17 11:37:28
- date last changed
- 2024-08-19 20:37:18
@inproceedings{2b16ab37-d329-40f1-909d-4558e42f4d2f, abstract = {{<p>For learning to take place in digital learning environments, learners need to use educational software – more or less – as intended. However, previous studies show that some school children, instead of trying to learn and master a skill, choose to systematically exploit or outsmart the system to gain progress. But what about preschoolers? The present study explores the presence of this kind of behavioral patterns among preschoolers who use a teachable agent-based play-&-learn game in early math. We analyzed behavioral data logs together with interviews and observations. We also analyzed action patterns deviating from the pedagogical design intentions in terms of non-harmful gaming, harmful gaming, and wheel-spinning. Our results reveal that even if pedagogically not intended use of the game did occur, harmful gaming was rare. Interestingly, the results also indicate an unexpected awareness in children of what it means to learn and to teach. Finally, we present a series of possible adjustments of the used software in order to decrease gaming-like behavior or strategies that signalize insufficient skills or poor learning.</p>}}, author = {{Ternblad, Eva Maria and Haake, Magnus and Anderberg, Erik and Gulz, Agneta}}, booktitle = {{Artificial Intelligence in Education : 19th International Conference, AIED 2018, Proceedings}}, editor = {{Penstein Rosé, Carolyn and Martínez-Maldonado, Roberto and Hoppe, Ulrich H. and Luckin, Rose and Mavrikis, Manolis and Porayska-Pomsta, Kaska and McLaren, Bruce and du Boulay, Benedict}}, isbn = {{9783319938424}}, issn = {{1611-3349}}, keywords = {{Gaming the system; Learning-by-teaching; Preschoolers; Teachable agent; Wheel-spinning}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{01}}, pages = {{557--569}}, publisher = {{Springer}}, series = {{Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)}}, title = {{Do preschoolers ‘Game the system’? : a case study of children’s intelligent (Mis)use of a teachable agent based play-&-learn game in mathematics}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_41}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_41}}, volume = {{10947 LNAI}}, year = {{2018}}, }