User Assessment in Serious Games and Technology-Enhanced Learning
1Department of Electronics and Biophysical Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
2Faculty of Business and Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada
3Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
4Faculty of Computer Science, The Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
User Assessment in Serious Games and Technology-Enhanced Learning
Description
Serious games (SGs) and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) tools are becoming ever more important for education and training. However, their effective application demands appropriate metrics, tools, and techniques for measuring elements such as learning outcomes, engagement, or gameplay performance. Devices like stereo cameras, eye trackers, galvanic skin response sensors, and neural impulse actuators (among others), now available at reasonable prices, not only support innovative interactions, but they also present opportunities to new user monitoring and evaluation.
Due to the complexity of human nature and individual differences, objective and systematic assessment of human behavior and performance remains highly difficult. In addition, data analysis and evaluation methods for technology-assisted learning and assessment are still underdeveloped because of different perspectives in evaluation. Development of systems and tools able to support provision of effective feedback is a major requirement for a new generation of SGs and TEL tools.
Breakthroughs in this area can be made by advancing issues including, but not limited to (a) an efficient and easy-to-use user interface, (b) effective data management, (c) sensor data fusion and integration, (d) data analysis methods, and (e) user feedback mechanisms.
We invite authors to submit original research articles as well as review articles that describe new devices, hardware/software tools, methodologies, systems, applications, and evaluation studies about user assessment in SGs and TEL, with a special perspective on usability and usefulness for learning. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Automatic/interactive assessment of user performance
- In-game assessment mechanics
- Time and precision effects
- Metrics for measuring fun and/or learning outcomes
- User satisfaction and fun evaluation
- User modeling and profiling
- User adaptivity and personalization
- Score rules and mechanisms
- Automated recommendation mechanisms
- Feedback to the users
- Advanced user interaction
- Advanced user sensors and transducer systems for assessment
- Sensor data fusion
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahci/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: