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Do preschoolers ‘Game the system’? : a case study of children’s intelligent (Mis)use of a teachable agent based play-&-learn game in mathematics

Ternblad, Eva Maria ; Haake, Magnus LU ; Anderberg, Erik LU and Gulz, Agneta LU (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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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
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
2024-01-14 23:03:48
@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-&amp;-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}},
}