HCC-Small: Modeling Student Affect in Game-Based Learning Environments

由于人们越来越认识到情感和动机在学习中的作用，情感计算已经成为交互式学习环境研究中越来越受关注的主题。以叙事为中心的学习环境是基于游戏的学习环境，其中学习活动在动态生成的交互式叙事中进行，为探索学生情感的计算模型提供了很好的机会。该项目将通过设计、实施和评估基于游戏的学习环境中的影响模型来探索学生的影响建模。它将开发1)情感识别技术，以预测学生的情感状态，识别投入和流动，并发现挫折；2)情感表达技术，以定制教学活动，动态规划虚拟代理在学习环境中的共情反应。所有的设计，实施和评估活动将在水晶岛进行，这是一个以故事为中心的基于游戏的生物学习环境。该项目将精确地确定哪种影响建模技术最能接近“情感循环”，并最有效地促进学生的学习效率和动机。预计该项目将对教育技术的理论和实践产生重大影响。由于研究目标的多学科性质，该项目将在情感识别和情感表达的计算模型方面取得重大进展。预计由此产生的学生情感计算模型和基于游戏的学习环境中情感信息交互的认知解释将创造新的学习环境技术，促进高水平的成就，并在科学教育中找到广泛的应用。

Because of the growing recognition of the role that emotion and motivation play in learning, affective computing has become the subject of increasing attention in research on interactive learning environments. Narrative-centered learning environments, which are game-based learning environments where learning activities play out in dynamically generated interactive narratives, afford great opportunity for exploring computational models of student affect. The project will explore student affect modeling through the design, implementation, and evaluation of affect models for game-based learning environments. It will develop 1) affect recognition technologies to predict students' affect states, recognize engagement and flow, and detect frustration, and 2) affect expression technologies to customize pedagogical activities and dynamically plan the empathetic responses of the virtual agents in the learning environment. All design, implementation, and evaluation activities will be carried out in Crystal Island, a narrative-centered game-based learning environment for biology.The project will determine precisely which affect modeling techniques best close the 'affective loop' and contribute most effectively to student learning effectiveness and motivation. It is expected that the project will have a significant impact on the theory and practice of educational technology. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the research objectives, the project will produce significant advances in computational models of affect recognition and affect expression. It is anticipated that the resulting computational models of student affect and the cognitive account of affect-informed interaction in game-based learning environments will create new learning environment technologies that promote high levels of achievement and find broad application in science education.