Game-based training to promote arithmetic fluency

The research team designed and evaluated a mobile game to promote rapid retrieval of arithmetic facts among a group of children aged 7–8 years (n = 97). The design of the game was based on principles drawn from research literature in mathematical cognition, game-based learning, and game design. The game trains basic number knowledge within a motivating context. It tested an implication of theory of automatization of arithmetic facts that training of recognition of multiples of single-digit numbers should lead to greater fluency in solving multiplication and division problems. A quasi-experimental design was employed to test whether the game improves retrieval of arithmetic facts. Children played the game in their classrooms for 20 min a day for 2 weeks. Comparisons between pre- and post-tests showed that the game playing group outperformed controls with a medium to large effect size (>0.6). These results suggest an improvement in arithmetic fluency equivalent to around 7 months' progress and provide rare empirical evidence supporting transfer of game-based training to a pencil-and-paper test. The findings are consistent with a connectionist theory of arithmetic skill, by showing that improved recognition of multiples contributes to multiplication and division skill. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

Learning number sense through digital games with intrinsic feedback

The paper proposes a new interdisciplinary approach to helping low attaining learners in basic mathematics. It reports on the research-informed design and user testing of an adaptive digital game based on constructionist tasks with intrinsic feedback. The approach uses findings from the neuroscience of dyscalculia, cognitive science research on conceptual understanding in mathematics, and mathematical education research to inform the detailed pedagogic design. It is interdisciplinary in the sense that it synthesises the results from multiple disciplines in the design principles. It then exploits the new capabilities of digital technologies to develop the design for testing with learners, and capturing appropriate data. The initial pilot has shown that the game supports learners age 5-7 years for independent learning of the kind that low attaining learners will need in order to keep pace with mainstream learners. The experimental work will evaluate this and similar games for learners of all ages who have low numeracy. In general, the approach is to (i) focus on a problem at the intersection of robust evidence in both education and neursocience; and (ii) use this data to design and test a digital intervention that fully exploits the adaptive and interactive features of learning technology

Board games as a teaching tool for technology classes in Compulsory Secondary Education

Aquest treball estudia la tècnica coneguda com game-based learning, és a dir, l’ús dels jocs com a eina didàctica. Primer que res, es fa recerca sobre els treballs ja existents i es veu que, tot i haver-hi articles sobre game-based learning, és difícil trobar-ne de relacionats amb la tecnologia, més enllà d’ensenyar a programar. A continuació, es revisen els continguts curriculars i les competències de secundària i es relacionen amb alguns jocs de taula ja existents, dels quals es detallen breument les regles de joc. Es veu que hi ha continguts curriculars, pels quals es difícil trobar un joc que hi encaixi. A més a més, es desenvolupa la idea d’un nou joc de taula, basat en el ja existent Party & Co., per treballar alguns dels continguts curriculars pels quals no s’ha trobat cap joc existent que s’hi escaigui. Finalment, s’explica una experiència duta a terme durant el període de pràctiques en el centre escolar al curs de 3r d’ESO. Es disposava de tres grups i en tots tres es va seguir la mateixa programació: classe introductòria expositiva, una sessió de muntatge de robots LEGO, 4 sessions de programació i un petit test. En un dels tres grups, però, es va fer una classe prèvia extra on es va jugar a un joc de taula anomenat RoboRally. Els objectius eren dobles: que aprenguessin la importància de l’algorísmica i que s’ho passessin bé. Els resultats mostren que aquest grup va treballar més i millor. En el treball s’analitzen els resultats obtinguts

How Social Robots can Influence Motivation as Motivators in Learning:A Scoping Review

Earlier research has investigated how educational social robots can influence learner motivation and learning outcomes as motivators instead of learning materials. This paper presents a scoping literature review of this body of work, focusing on the educational strategies used, and describing the range of approaches used to influence motivation and learning through social robots, not as learning tools but as motivators. Nineteen advanced studies are identified and described according to the components of the ARCS model (a motivation model dominant in robotics research): Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. We summarized the measures used for motivation in the studies and relate these measures to the four ARCS model components. Finally, we analyzed the studies from the perspectives of sample groups, study type, and domain or subject. Our analyses suggested that beyond focusing on persuasive (educational) strategies that educational social robots can use to keep learners' attention, researchers should also focus on the satisfaction component of motivation. Furthermore, future studies should examine long-term interactions, apply more rigor in using validated questionnaires, and combine qualitative and quantitative methods to understand not only the effects of these different approaches but also the reasons behind them.</p

The development of numerical cognition in children and artificial systems: a review of the current knowledge and proposals for multi-disciplinary research

Numerical cognition is a distinctive component of human intelligence such that the observation of its practice provides a window into high-level brain function. The modelling of numerical abilities in artificial cognitive systems can help to confirm existing child development hypotheses and define new ones by means of computational simulations. Meanwhile, new research will help to discover innovative principles for the design of artificial agents with advanced reasoning capabilities and clarify the underlying algorithms (e.g. deep learning) that can be highly effective but difficult to understand for humans. This article promotes new investigation by providing a common resource for researchers with different backgrounds, including computer science, robotics, neuroscience, psychology, and education, who are interested in pursuing scientific collaboration on mutually stimulating research on this topic. The article emphasises the fundamental role of embodiment in the initial development of numerical cognition in children. This strong relationship with the body motivates the Cognitive Developmental Robotics (CDR) approach for new research that can (among others) help to standardise data collection and provide open databases for benchmarking computational models. Furthermore, we discuss the potential application of robots in classrooms and argue that the CDR approach can be extended to assist educators and favour mathematical education

PeppeRecycle: Improving Children’s Attitude Toward Recycling by Playing with a Social Robot

In this paper, we investigate the use of a social robot as an engaging interface of a serious game intended to make children more aware and well disposed towards waste recycle. The game has been designed as a competition between the robot Pepper and a child. During the game, the robot simultaneously challenges and teaches the child how to recycle waste materials. To endow the robot with the capability to play as a game opponent in a real-world context, it is equipped with an image recognition module based on a Convolutional Neural Network to detect and classify the waste material as a child would do, i.e. by simply looking at it. A formal experiment involving 51 primary school students is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the game in terms of different factors such as the interaction with the robot, the users’ cognitive and affective dimensions towards ecological sustainability, and the propensity to recycle. The obtained results are encouraging and draw promising scenarios for educational robotics in changing children’s attitudes toward recycling. Indeed Pepper turns out to be positively evaluated by children as a trustful and believable companion and this allows children to be concentrated on the “memorization” task during the game. Moreover, the use of real objects as waste items during the game turns out to be a successful approach not only for perceived learning effectiveness but also for the children’s engagement

Intrinsic motivation, curiosity and learning: theory and applications in educational technologies

International audienceThis article studies the bi-directional causal interactions between curiosity and learning, and discusses how understanding these interactions can be leveraged in educational technology applications. First, we review recent results showing how state curiosity, and more generally the experience of novelty and surprise, can enhance learning and memory retention. Then, we discuss how psychology and neuroscience have conceptualized curiosity and intrinsic motivation, studying how the brain can be intrinsically rewarded by novelty, complexity or other measures of information. We explain how the framework of computational reinforcement learning can be used to model such mechanisms of curiosity. Then, we discuss the learning progress (LP) hypothesis, which posits a positive feedback loop between curiosity and learning. We outline experiments with robots that show how LP-driven attention and exploration can self-organize a developmental learning curriculum scaffolding efficient acquisition of multiple skills/tasks.. Finally, we discuss recent work exploiting these conceptual and computational models in educational technologies, showing in particular how Intelligent Tutoring Systems can be designed to foster curiosity and learning

A Systematic Review of Adaptivity in Human-Robot Interaction

As the field of social robotics is growing, a consensus has been made on the design and implementation of robotic systems that are capable of adapting based on the user actions. These actions may be based on their emotions, personality or memory of past interactions. Therefore, we believe it is significant to report a review of the past research on the use of adaptive robots that have been utilised in various social environments. In this paper, we present a systematic review on the reported adaptive interactions across a number of domain areas during Human-Robot Interaction and also give future directions that can guide the design of future adaptive social robots. We conjecture that this will help towards achieving long-term applicability of robots in various social domains

Improving girls’ perception of computer science as a viable career option through game playing and design: Lessons from a systematic literature review

The objective of exposing girls to Computer Science as a career option has led to research directed towards gaming activities for girls. These activities include both game play and game design. Research about gaming activities for increasing girls’ interest in computer science has gained much attention over the past few years and has resulted in a number of contributions. We follow up with an overview of the status of research through a Systematic Literature Review. We investigate the relation between the various game playing or designing activities and their impact on girls’ perception of Computer Science as a career choice. We further present the design consideration for the games and related activities to potentially improve the perception of girls towards a Computer Science career. The applied method is a Systematic Literature Review through which we investigate which contributions were made, which knowledge areas were most explored, and which research facets have been used. We identify 25 papers to distill a common understanding of the state-of-the-art. Specifically, we investigate the effects that the game play/design activities had on girls’ perception about Computer Science; and what are the key design factors to be kept in mind while designing a serious game to improve girls’ perception about Computer Science. The results of this systematic literature review show that game playing or designing could indeed improve how girls perceive having a career in CS. The key aspects that such activities require are personalizing, opportunity for collaboration and the presence of a female lead characterThis work has been done during the tenure of an ERCIM Alain Bensoussan fellowshi