Abstract
Operation ARIES! is a serious game that teaches critical thinking about scientific inquiry. The player must help to identify aliens on Earth who are intentionally publishing bad research. The game combines aspects of video games and intelligent tutors in which the player holds conversations with animated agents using natural language. The player first takes a training course with a virtual trainee, followed by a module in which the player identifies flaws in research cases. In the third and final module, the player interviews suspected alien scientists on their research. Operation ARIES! is designed for high school seniors and adults.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aleven, V., Koedinger, K.R.: An effective metacognitive strategy: Learning by doing and explaining with a computer-based cognitive tutor. Cogn. Sci. 26, 147–179 (2002)
Anderson, J.R., Corbett, A.T., Koedinger, K.R., Pelletier, R.: Cognitive tutors: Lessons learned. J Learn. Sci. 4, 167–207 (1995)
Atkinson, R.K.: Optimizing learning from examples using animated pedagogical agents. J. Educ. Psychol. 94, 416–427 (2002)
Baylor, A.L., Kim, Y.: Simulating instructional roles through pedagogical agents. Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ. 15, 95–115 (2005)
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, R.L., Kucan, L.: Questioning the Author: An Approach for Enhancing Student Engagement with Text. International Reading Association, Delaware (1997)
Benyon, D., Turner, P., Turner, S.: Designing Interactive Systems. Addison-Wesley, Harlow (2005)
Biswas, G., Leelawong, K., Schwartz, D., Vye, N., The Teachable Agents Group at Vanderbilt.: Learning by teaching: A new agent paradigm for educational software. Appl. Artif. Intell. 19, 363–392 (2005)
Biswas, G., Jeong, H., Kinnebrew, J., Sulcer, B., & Roscoe, R.: Measuring self-regulated learning skills through social interactions in a Teachable Agent environment. Res. Pract. Technol.-Enhanced Learn. 5, 123–152 (2010)
Bloom, B.S.: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals – Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. McKay, New York (1956)
Bransford, J.D., Sherwood, R.S., Hasselbring, T.S., Kinzer, C.K., Williams, S.M.: Anchored instruction: Why we need it and how technology can help. In: Nix, D., Spiro, R. (eds.) Cognition, Education, and Multimedia: Exploring Ideas in High Technology, pp. 115–141. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ (1990)
Bryant, J., Fondren, W.: Psychological and communicological theories of learning and emotion underlying serious games. In: Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects, pp. 103–116. Routledge, Taylor & Francis, New York and London (2009)
Chi, M.T.H., Siler, S.A., Jeong, H., Yamauchi, T., Hausmann, R.G.: Learning from human tutoring. Cogn. Sci. 25, 471–553 (2001)
Craig, S.D., Sullins, J., Witherspoon, A., Gholson, B.: Deep level reasoning questions effect: The role of dialog and deep-level reasoning questions during vicarious learning. Cogn. Instruct. 24, 563–589 (2006)
Craig, S.D., Chi, M.T.H., VanLehn, K.: Improving classroom learning by collaboratively observing human tutoring videos while problem solving. J. Educ. Psychol. 101, 779–789 (2009)
Csikszenthimhalyi, M.: Flow: The Psychology of Happiness. Random House, London (2002)
D’Mello, S., Graesser, A.C.: Multimodal semi-automated affect detection from conversational cues, gross body language, and facial features. User Model.User-adapted Interact. 20, 147–187 (2010)
Gee, J.P.: What Video Games Teach Us About Language and Literacy. Palgrave/Macmillan, New York (2003)
Graesser, A.C., Person, N.K., & Magliano, J.P.: Collaborative dialogue patterns in naturalistic one-to-one tutoring. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 9, 359.1–359.28 (1995)
Graesser, A.C., Wiemer-Hastings, K., Wiemer-Hastings, P., Kreuz, R., the TRG: Auto Tutor: A simulation of a human tutor. J. Cogn. Syst. Res. 1, 35–51 (1999)
Graesser, A.C., Person, N., Harter, D., the Tutoring Research Group: Teaching tactics and dialog in AutoTutor. Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ. 12, 257–279 (2001)
Graesser, A.C., Lu, S., Jackson, G.T., Mitchell, H., Ventura, M., Olney, A., Louwerse, M.M.: AutoTutor: A tutor with dialogue in natural language. Behav. Res. Meth. Instrum. Comput. 36, 180–193 (2004)
Graesser, A.C., Chipman, P., Haynes, B.C., Olney, A.: AutoTutor: An intelligent tutoring system with mixed-initiative dialogue. IEEE Trans. Educ. 48, 612–618 (2005a)
Graesser, A.C., Lu, S., Olde, B.A., Cooper-Pye, E., Whitten, S.: Question asking and eye tracking during cognitive disequilibrium: comprehending illustrated texts on devices when the devices break down. Mem. Cognit. 33, 1235–1247 (2005b)
Graesser, A.C., McNamara, D.S., VanLehn, K.: Scaffolding deep comprehension strategies through Point&Query, AutoTutor, and iSTART. Educ. Psychol. 40, 225–234 (2005c)
Graesser, A.C., D’Mello, S.K., Craig, S.D., Witherspoon, A., Sullins, J., McDaniel, B., Gholson, B.: The relationship between affective states and dialog patterns during interactions with AutoTutor. J. Interact. Learn. Res. 19, 293–312 (2008)
Graesser, A.C., Chipman, P., Leeming, F., Biedenbach, S.: Deep learning and emotion in serious games. In: Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects, pp. 83–102. Routledge, Taylor & Francis, New York and London (2009a)
Graesser, A., Ozuru, Y., Sullins, J.: What is a good question? In: McKeown, M.G., Kucan, L. (eds.) Threads of Coherence in Research on the Development of Reading Ability, pp. 112–141. Guilford, New York (2009b)
Griffin, T.D., Wiley, J., Thiede, K.W.: Individual differences, rereading, and self-explanation: Concurrent processing and cue validity as constraints on metacomprehension accuracy. Mem. Cogn. 36, 93–103 (2008)
Halpern, D.F.: Teaching for critical thinking: A four-part model to enhance thinking skills. In: Davis, S., Buskist, W. (eds.) The Teaching of Psychology: Essays in Honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer, pp. 91–105. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ (2002)
Harackiewicz, J.: The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 37, 1352–1363 (1979)
Hartmann, T.: Gender differences in the use of computer-games as competitive leisure activities. Paper presented at Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA), November 4–6, 2003, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2003)
Heeter, C., Egidio, R., Punya, M., Winn, B., Caywood, J.: Alien games: Do girls prefer games designed by girls? Games Cult. 4(1), 74–100 (2007). doi: 10.1177/1555412008325481
Hynd, C., Alverman, D.E.: Overcoming misconceptions in science: An on-line study of prior knowledge activation. Reading Res. Instr. 84, 12–26 (1989)
Indian Wine Academy: Study finds wine lowers heart attack risk in women. http://www.indianwineacademy.com/dm_145_item_4.asp (2007)
Ketelhut, D.J.: The impact of student self-efficacy on scientific inquiry skills: An exploratory investigation in River City, a multi-user virtual environment. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 16, 99–111 (2007)
King, A.: Guiding knowledge construction in the classroom: Effects of teaching children how to question and how to explain. Am. Educ. Res. J. 31, 338–368 (1994)
Kopp, K., Britt, A., Millis, K., Graesser, A.: Improving the efficiency of dialogue in tutoring. J. Learn. Instr. (in press)
Kulik, J.A., Kulik, C-L.C.: Timing of feedback and verbal learning. Rev. Educ. Res. 58, 79–97 (1988)
Landauer, T.K., & Dumais, S.T.: A solution to Plato’s problem: The latent semantic analysis theory of acquisition, induction, and representation of knowledge. Psychol. Rev. 104, 211–240 (1997)
Linn, M.C., Davis, E.A., & Bell, P.: Internet Environments for Science Education. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey (2004)
Maki, R.H.: Test predictions over text material. In: Hacker, D.J., Dunlosky, J., Graesser, A.C. (eds.) Metacognition in Educational Theory and Practice, pp. 117–144. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ (1998)
Malone, T.W., Lepper, M.R.: Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In: Snow, R.E., Farr, M.J. (eds.) Aptitude Learning and Instruction, Vol. 3, pp. 223–253. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ (1987)
McNamara, D.S., O’Reilly, T., Rowe, M., Boonthum, C., Levinstein, I.: iSTART: A web-based tutor that teaches self-explanation and metacognitive reading strategies. In: McNamara, D.S. (ed.) Reading Comprehension Strategies: Theories, Interventions, and Technologies, pp. 397–420. Erlbaum, New York (2007)
Meyer, B.J.F., Wijekumar, K.: A web-based tutoring system for the structure strategy: Theoretical background, design, and findings. In: McNamara, D.S. (ed.) Reading Comprehension Strategies: Theories, Interventions, and Technologies, pp. 347–374. Erlbaum, New York (2007)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Homeopathy: An introduction. Retrieved from the National Institutes of Health website http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/ (undated)
National Science Education Standards (NSES): The National Academies Press, Washington, DC (1996)
Oxland, K.: Gameplay and Design. Addison-Wesley, Harlow (2004)
Palincsar, A.S., Brown, A.L.: Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring Activities. Cogn. Instr. 1, 117–175 (1984)
Ratan, R., Ritterfeld, U.: Classifying serious games. In: Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects, pp. 10–24. Routledge, New York (2009)
Rieber, L.: Seriously considering play: Designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of microworlds, simulations, and games. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 44, 42–58 (1996)
Roediger, H.L., Karpicke, J.D.: Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychol. Sci., 17, 249–255 (2006)
Rosenshine, B., Meister, C., Chapman, S.: Teaching students to generate questions: A review of the intervention studies. Rev. Educ. Res., 66, 181–221 (1996)
Salen, K., Zimmerman, E.: Rules of Play: Game Design and Fundamentals. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2004)
Shute, V.J.: Focus on formative feedback. Rev. Educ. Res. 78, 153–189 (2008)
Taboada, A., Guthrie, J.T.: Contributions of student questioning and prior knowledge to construction of knowledge from reading information text. J. Literacy Res. 38, 1–35 (2006)
Van Eck, R.: Building artificially intelligent learning games. In: Gibson, D., Aldrich, C., Prensky, M. (eds.) Games and Simulations in Online Learning Research & Development Frameworks, pp. 271–307. Idea Group, Hershey, PA (2007)
VanLehn, K., Graesser, A.C., Jackson, G.T., Jordan, P., Olney, A., Rose, C.P.: When are tutorial dialogues more effective than reading? Cogn. Sci. 31, 3–62 (2007)
Vygotsky, L.: Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Functions. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1978)
Wang, H., Shen, C., & Ritterfeld, U.: Enjoyment of digital games: What makes them “seriously” fun? In: Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms And Effects, pp. 25–47. Routledge, Taylor & Francis, New York and London (2009)
Whitton, N.: Learning with Digital Games: A Practical Guide to Engaging Students in Higher Education. Routledge, New York (2010)
Wisher, R.A., Graesser, A.C.: Question asking in advanced distributed learning environments. In: Fiore, S.M., Salas, E. (eds.) Toward a Science of Distributed Learning and Training, pp. 209–234. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC (2007)
Yee, N.: Motivations of play in online games. CyberPsychol. Behav. 9, 772–775 (2006)
Yeomans, J.: Dynamic assessment practice: Some suggestions for ensuring follow up. Educ. Psychol. Pract. 24, 105–114 (2008)
Resources
Resources
Key Books
Gee, J. (ed.): Games, Learning, Assessment. MIT Press, Boston, MA (in press)
Gibson, D., Aldrich, C., Prensky, M. (eds.): Games and Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks. Information Science Publishing, Hershey, PA (2006)
Halpern, D.F. (ed.): Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline. American Psychological Association Books, Washington, DC (2010)
Mayer, R.E., Alexander, P.A. (eds.): Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction. Routledge Press, New York, NY (2011)
Mayrath, M., Robisnon, D., Clarke-Midura, J. (eds.): Technology-Based Assessments for 21st Century Skills: Theoretical and Practical Implications from Modern Research. Information Age Publications, Charlotte, NC (2011)
Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.): Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. Routledge, Taylor and Francis, Mahwah, NJ (2009)
Shaffer, D.W.: How Computer Games Help Children Learn. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (2006)
Spector, J.M., Merrill, M.D., van Merriënboer, J.J.G., Driscoll, M.P. (eds.): Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology. Taylor & Francis, London (2008)
Van Eck, R.: Interdisciplinary Models and Tools for Serious Games: Emerging Concepts and Future Directions. Information Science Reference, Hershey, NY (2010)
Key Survey/Review Articles
Aleven, V.: An intelligent learning environment for case-based argumentation. Technol. Inst. Cogn. Lear. 4(2), 191–241 (2006)
Bagley, E., Shaffer, D.W.: When people get in the way: Promoting civic thinking through epistemic gameplay. Int. J. Gaming Comput. -Mediated Simul. 1, 36–52 (2009)
Bråten, I., Strømsø, H.I., Britt, M.A.: Trust matters: Examining the role of source evaluation in students’ construction of meaning within and across multiple texts. Reading Res. Q. 44, 6–28 (2009)
Gee, J.P.: Why game studies now? E-video games: a new art form. Games Cult. 1, 1–4 (2006)
Graesser, A.C., Jeon, M., Dufty, D.: Agent technologies designed to facilitate interactive knowledge construction. Discourse Process. 45, 298–322 (2008)
Millis, K., Magliano, J., Todaro, S.: Measuring discourse-level processes with verbal protocols and latent semantic analysis. Sci. Stud. Reading 10, 225–240 (2006)
Nash, P., Shaffer, D.W.: Mentor modeling: The internalization of modeled professional thinking in an epistemic game. J. Comput. Assis. Lear. 27, 173–189. (2011)
Shute, V.J.: Focus on formative feedback. Rev. Educ. Res. 78, 153–189 (2008)
VanLehn, K., Graesser, A.C., Jackson, G.T., Jordan, P., Olney, A.M., Rose, C.: When are tutorial dialogues more effective than reading? Cogn. Sci. 31, 3–62 (2007)
Wiley, J., Goldman, S.R., Graesser, A.C., Sanchez, C.A., Ash, I.K., Hemmerich, J.A.: Source evaluation, comprehension, and learning in internet science inquiry tasks. Am. Educ. Res. J. 46, 1060–1106 (2009)
Organisations, Societies, Special Interest Groups
Games for Change http://www.gamesforchange.org/
Research Groups
River City Research Team http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/index.html
The Discourse and Technology Group at Northern Illinois University http://www.niu.edu/psyc/graduate/cognitive/index.shtml
The Institute for Intelligent Systems at The University of Memphis https://sites.google.com/a/iis.memphis.edu/main/
Key International Conferences/Workshops
AIED: 15th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education http://www.aied2011.canterbury.ac.nz/ (2011)
ITS: Tenth International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Bridges to Learning http://sites.google.com/site/its2010home/ (2010)
ST&D: Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse http://www.societyfortextanddiscourse.org/conferences/index.html (2011)
Acknowledgments
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B070349 to Northern Illinois University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Millis, K., Forsyth, C., Butler, H., Wallace, P., Graesser, A., Halpern, D. (2011). Operation ARIES!: A Serious Game for Teaching Scientific Inquiry. In: Ma, M., Oikonomou, A., Jain, L. (eds) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2160-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2161-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)