Optimizing student performance in educational games through adapative challenges

这项研究将调查和严格评估一个有前途的游戏设计方法，涉及一系列的小游戏，这些小游戏与相关的科学概念的进展紧密相连。该研究将对玩家在多级游戏中的行为进行检查，并使用PBSKids在线用户群作为受试者池进行两个随机实验。PBSKids在线用户群的大样本量提供了一个令人兴奋的机会，研究设计方法和方法，可能有一个小的，但仍然重要的影响研究将调查的交叉点Vygotsky的近端发展区，Csikszentmihalyi的流的概念，和消费者游戏设计方法，产生持续参与计算机和视频游戏。这个交叉点涉及到创造挑战的平衡行为，这些挑战不是太难，所以玩家-学生会感到沮丧，或者太容易，所以学生-玩家会感到无聊，同时随着玩家-学生能力的增加而适应性地调整挑战，以维持参与教育挑战。这个项目有望成为变革性的，因为良好的严肃游戏设计原则可能对非正式科学教育产生巨大影响。

This study will investigate and rigorously evaluate a promising game design approach that involves a sequence of mini-games that are tightly linked to a progression of related scientific concepts. The study will conduct an examination of player behavior in multi-leveled games and two randomized experiments using the PBSKids online user base as the subject pool. The large sample size of the PBSKids online user base provides an exciting opportunity to study design methods and approaches that may have a small but still important effect The research will investigate the intersection of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow, and consumer game design approaches that produce sustained engagement in computer and video games. The intersection involves the balancing act of creating challenges that are not too difficult so the player-student is frustrated, or too easy so that the student-player is bored while adaptively adjusting the challenge as the player-students ability increases to sustain engagement in the educational challenges.This project promises to be transformative in that good serious game design principles could have an enormous impact on informal science education.