E. Duval, R. Klamma, and M. Wolpers (Eds.): EC-TEL 2007, LNCS 4753, pp. 247���261, 2007. �� Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007 A Game-Based Adaptive Unit of Learning with IMS Learning Design and e-Adventure Pablo Moreno-Ger1, Daniel Burgos2, Jos�� Luis Sierra1, and Baltasar Fern��ndez-Manj��n1 1 Dpto. Ingenier��a del Software e Inteligencia Artificial. Fac. Inform��tica. Universidad Complutense. 28040, Madrid. Spain {pablom,jlsierra,balta}@fdi.ucm.es 2 Educational Technology Expertise Centre (OTEC). The Open University of the Netherlands. Heerlen. The Netherlands daniel.burgos@ou.nl Abstract. In this paper we illustrate how to conceive, implement and play adaptive Units of Learning (UoLs) that embed educational videogames. For this purpose we describe The Art & Craft of chocolate UoL, with the game Paniel and the chocolate-based sauce adventure as a key feature. The UoL includes a pre-test whose outcome is used to adapt the game. The UoL also assesses the learning process using an in-game exam. This UoL has been modeled using IMS Learning Design (LD), and the embedded game has been developed using the e-Adventure educational game engine. This UoL may be deployed in any LD-compliant environment, although some of the features like the adaptation of the game or automatic assessment require special plug-ins that enable the communication between the environment and the e-Adventure engine. These plug-ins have been developed as an open-source modification of the SLeD player. Keywords: edutainment, adaptive e-learning, e-Adventure, IMS Learning Design. 1 Introduction There is a growing interest for the introduction of computer and videogames in educational environments. Games have become one of the biggest entertainment industries, rivalling cinema and surpassing literature [8], mostly because modern games are attractive, engaging and immersive. Additionally, the research about the nature of fun and motivation in videogames highlights a number of elements such as short feedback cycles, high interactivity, or embodiment, which can have a significant impact in educational environments [9,17,18]. The pedagogical benefits of game- based approaches, as well as some of their shortcomings, have been thoroughly studied in the literature [2,10,13,20,29]. Typical problems include social rejection, excessively high development costs, and poor results when the resulting products include very precise and detailed content but fail completely when it comes to Draft version: See http://www.e-ucm.es/publications/articles.html for updated citation information

248 P. Moreno-Ger et al. providing entertainment (thus missing the appeal of videogames and its associated pedagogical benefits) [27,28]. Remarkably, educational videogames are complex software artefacts that are executed on the student���s computer. This fact makes them very interesting from the perspective of adaptive learning because the videogame can behave differently every time it is run. Indeed, the possibility of choosing different levels of difficulty has been present in videogames since the very beginning. Most games become increasingly difficult as the user progresses (i.e. each level is more challenging than the previous one) and, additionally, it is usually possible to select a base level of difficulty so that the experience is neither too challenging nor too easy. The objective is to keep the player in the zone where he or she is forced to perform at the limit of his/her competence but without exceeding it. The key idea is that videogames and adaptation are synergic fields and we should leverage this when creating adaptive contents and courses. On the other hand, a field that could benefit most from adaptive learning (and that invests a lot of effort and research in the matter) is online learning. The so-called Learning Management Systems (LMS) facilitate and monitor the learning experiences of large groups of students. Even though these environments are sometimes targeted at a very specific group of users, it is also common to find systems targeted at broad audiences that have different learning styles, differences in their previous background and different learning objectives. For this reason, there is a lot of research into providing adaptive learning experiences [4,24] in which the adaptation optimizes the focus of the content (by fitting different levels of previous knowledge or different objectives) and the overall learning experience (by fitting different learning styles). In this arena, the IMS Learning Design specification is one of the key elements because it facilitates a formal modelling of the intricacies of adaptive learning paths. In this paper, we analyze the potential synergies between adaptive games and learning environments based on the IMS Learning Design specification [11]. For this purpose, we have conceived an adaptive Unit of Learning (UoL) built around an educational game. This UoL has been modelled with IMS Learning Design. For the implementation of the adaptive videogame we have used the e-Adventure educational game engine [21], leveraging its built-in adaptation and assessment features. The e-Adventure engine can be deployed to the student���s computer from an LMS and, should the LMS support it, establish a bidirectional communication with the server that can be used to alter the behaviour of the game and to inform the LMS of the activities of the student within the game [19]. The result is an adaptive process with a complete feedback loop in which previous knowledge about the student and his/her performance is used to modify the game and in which the activity of the student within game is used to improve that knowledge and adapt the rest of the learning experience. The structure of this work is as follows: section 2 describes the adaptive UoL. Section 3 introduces the supporting technologies used in its implementation: IMS Learning Design and e-Adventure. In section 4 we outline the technical details regarding the execution environment. Finally, in section 5 we present the conclusions and some lines of future work. Draft version: See http://www.e-ucm.es/publications/articles.html for updated citation information

A Game-Based Adaptive Unit of Learning with IMS LD and e-Adventure 249 2 The Art and Craft of Chocolate UoL Learning Management Systems in online education are often targeted at broad audiences with varying demographics. The students have different backgrounds, different levels of initial knowledge, different ambitions in terms of learning objectives and even different learning styles. The inclusion of adaptation techniques to fit the needs of different students is thus pedagogically and commercially sound. In particular, we are mainly interested in studying adaptation in the context of educational games and their use in complex UoLs. 0-60 61-80 81-100 Variables OUT Variables IN Fig. 1. Basic outline of the Unit of Learning In order to show how an adaptive UoL involving educational games can be effectively achieved, we have conceived a sample UoL that includes a sample adaptive game. The UoL is entitled The Art and Craft of Chocolate and deals with advanced uses of cocoa and chocolate in cooking. The educational goal is to let learners learn how to prepare chocolate sauces by mixing different chocolate types and how to use these sauces to prepare a variety of sophisticated dishes. Draft version: See http://www.e-ucm.es/publications/articles.html for updated citation information