Applied cognitive task analysis in the context of serious games development

Abstract

Sophisticated Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) instruments as training simulations and Serious Games (SG) do not provide knowledge content in an explicit form, but propose interactive solutions for learners to build their own skills and competences in close to real situations. Thus, expert knowledge should be implicitly embedded into design of SG and training simulations. The present paper discusses the problem of expert knowledge elicitation for building SG, and provides an analysis of the use of cognitive task analysis methods for SG. The use of Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) as effective and time-efficient tool for codification of complex expert skills in the context of serious games and complex simulations is discussed, on the base of experience gained in the TARGET project.