Engage: A Game Based Learning and Problem Solving Framework
Abstract
This effort designed a novel way of learning and real-world problem solving by determining the optimal human-computer symbiotic learning and problem solving framework. There are no general methods for discovering optimal learning pathways to bring novices to experts in an area, or how to effectively combine humans and computers in a general framework. Specifically, the effort focused on the problem of critical importance to the military, visual cognitive skills required for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) discovery. The effort used a game-based framework to collect large quantities of data on the possible improvements in the performance of regular people on the low-level visual cognitive tasks of high importance for IED discovery as identified by Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). IED discovery game provides a venue to assist in teaching/training individuals for real world crisis situations. The effort focused on developing a set of skills necessary to enhance IED-relevant visual skills: anomaly detection, visual perception, and useful field of view. The IED discovery game served both as a teaching tool and as a way to understand how to incorporate those skills into more elaborate IED training tools. The findings showed that even with voluntary play, people improve on psychological tests. On fully controlled tests with pre and post psychological tests we found marked improvement on just 10 hours of play. Specifically, players improved on visual search in terms of time required for the same accuracy of results. The largest effect was found on useful field of view cognitive tasks where people improved their performance up to 30% on controlled tests after 10 hours of play. These findings point out that a targeted adaptive game is a powerful training tool capable of significantly improving low-level visual cognition tasks with only 10 hours of play.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA562150
Entities
People
- Zoran Popovi
Organizations
- University of Washington