Lena Pareto besöker LearnIT konferensen Game in ´Action i Göteborg, där hon presenterar följande artikel. Utility Games: gaming as a design strategy to achieve utility effects.

Nya RF lärare har tillkommit under hösten 2012 och inte alla har fått chans att besvara lärarenkäten som skapats inom ramen av Skolverkets Matematiksatsning i Uddevalla 2011-2013. Lärarenkäten hålls därför öppen under hela hösten!

”Konkret, Lekfullt. Roligt. Det är några omdömen om Rutiga familjen, ett grafiskt, digitalt matematikprogram som ger eleverna en djupare förståelse för positiva och negativa tal, decimalsystemet och de fyra räknesätten. Detta är ett annat sätt att se på matte, och programmet testas nu på Forshällaskolan utanför Uddevalla.”
Publicering: Räkna med Rutiga Familjen i Vestlin, Lena (red.)
Från wikis till mattefilmer – om IKT i skolan, s.47-52. Stockholm: Lärarförbundets förlag, 2009 » Läs mer

Till AIED International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, in Brighton, Storbritannien, presenterade Lena Pareto med kollegorna Daniel L. Schwartz från Stanford University, USA och Lars Svensson från Högskolan Väst, följande artikel 2009: Learning by guiding a teachable agent to play an educational game (eftersom artikeln publiceras internationellt, är den på engelska.)
Abstrakt: Teachable agents are used to support transfer of game playing knowledge to domain knowledge for an educational, arithmetic game. A pre-posttest experiment study show promising learning effects for low ability students. » Läs mer

En ny artikel ”A Teachable Agent Game Engaging Primary School Children to Learn Arithmetic Concepts and Reasoning” har publicerats i en internationell tidskrift om intelligenta spel och andra digitala verktyg i skolmiljö: International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education av Springer

(eftersom artikeln publiceras internationellt, är den på engelska).
Abstrakt:  In this paper we will describe a learning environment designed to foster conceptual understanding and reasoning in mathematics among younger school children. The learning environment consists of 48 2-player game variants based on a graphical model of arithmetic where the mathematical content is intrinsically interwoven with the game idea. The environment also features teachable agents, which are computer programs that can be taught and behave according to their knowledge. Thus, the environment provides both learning-by-doing (playing the game) and learning-by-teaching (teaching the agent to play). It differs from other learning-by-teaching systems 1) by targeting basic mathematics and primary grade students; 2) by using teachable agents as an extension to educational games in order to leverage engagement, reflection and learning; and 3) by using an agent-driven question dialogue to challenge students’ mathematical thinking, to role-model learner behaviour and to transfer game knowledge to out-of-game mathematics. The teachable agent game is described and evaluated in an authentic classroom study enrolling 443 students from 22 classes in 9 schools. Students range from 2^nd to 6^th grade of mainstream classes and 7^th to 8^th grade for students with difficulties in mathematics. Part of the study was designed as a quasi-experimental study with controls; part was designed to examine students’ change in mental models of arithmetic before and after game play. All students took pre- and post mathematics tests. The 314 playing students used the game and taught their agents during regular math-classes for three months, whereas the control classes attended standard instruction and took the tests. A questionnaire was distributed in the end of the study to investigate students’ perceptions and performances of the agent-tutoring task. Results show that 1) there is a significant learning gain for playing student compared to controls, 2) the learning environment can engage children in advanced mathematical thinking in early education, 3) that young primary students can act as successful tutors. Thus, we conclude that teachable agents is a candidate for leveraging learning in educational games to deeper levels that transfer outside the game. This idea combines the motivational power of games with the reflective power of a teachable agent asking though-provoking, deep questions on the learning material during game play.

Pareto, L. (2014). A Teachable Agent Game Engaging Primary School Children to Learn Arithmetic Concepts and Reasoning. In International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp 251-283. Springer New York.

Till APLEC konferensen International Workshop on Adaptation and Personalization in E-B/Learning using Pedagogic Conversational Agents, in Hawaii, USA, presenterade Lena Pareto följande artikel 2010: A Teachable Agent Game for Elementary School Mathematics promoting Causal Reasoning and Choice (eftersom artikeln publiceras internationellt, är den på engelska.)
Abstrakt: We describe a mathematics computer game for children designed to promote causal reasoning, choice-making, and other higher-order cognitive activities. The game consists of a choice-based board game, enhanced with a conversational, teachable agent, taught to play the game, by the child, through demonstrations and questions. Game design is motivated by causal reasoning theory and educational psychology. The game is currently evaluated in an ongoing large-scale study that seeks to investigate the game’s effects on the players’ abilities to reason and make productive choices. The study involves 20 elementary-school classes at different levels. » Läs mer på s.18