The West Was Won computer coach: observing student game play and intervening with hints at critical moments¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Burton and Brown's (1982) coach for the Plato arithmetic game "How the West Was Won" observes students as they play and gives hints or advice at critical moments. The coach rank orders every possible move by how far ahead of the opponent it leaves the player, and monitors "issues" such as landing on towns or using parentheses. When a student systematically fails to use an issue, the coach intervenes just after the student's move, pointing out how a move would improve the player's position and giving the student a chance to retake the turn.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A rank ordering of possible moves and a set of issues the coach monitors to detect systematic student failures

Constraints¶

• Without coaching, students playing the game tend to lock onto a single strategy and do not play well or learn much arithmetic

Target Learners¶

• Children learning basic arithmetic operations

Target Learning Goals¶

• Considering alternative arithmetic moves and learning arithmetic operations through game play

Affordances¶

• Cognitive Apprenticeship Technology Framework

Related Elements¶

• Summit: an arithmetic tutoring system combining visual animation with spoken explanation in two representations

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Collins, Allan. (1988). Cognitive Apprenticeship and Instructional Technology. Technical Report. BBN Report No. 6899, BBN Labs, Inc. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED331465