Lecture 12 Enhancing Motivation

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Lecture 12 Enhancing Motivation
Associated reading Cordova, D. I. Lepper, M.
R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process
of learning Beneficial effects of
contextualization, personalization, and choice.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 88 (4),
715-730.

• Cognitive Modeling and Intelligent Tutoring
  Systems
• Ken Koedinger
• Vincent Aleven

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Announcements

• Final presentation Next Monday
• Questions on final project?

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Lester

• Positive
• Negative

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Overview

• Review of Cordova Lepper study
• Discussion of implications for Cognitive Tutors
• Other related experiments
• Limitations of games
• Limitations of context

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Cordova Lepper Study

• Goals
• Explore effects of different motivational
  enhancements to an educational game
• Contextualization, Personalization, Choice
• Measure impact on student
• Learning
• Intrinsic motivation Direct relative enjoyment
• Longer term motivation self-competence
  aspiration for future challenge
• Task involvement

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Experimental Method

• Participants
• 70 4th 5th graders
• 5 Conditions
• No Fantasy control
• Generic Fantasy - No Choice
• Generic Fantasy - Choice
• Personalized Fantasy - No Choice
• Personalized Fantasy- Choice

• Procedure 5 sessions
• 1. Pre-test interest questionnaire
• 2 3. Play Space Quest or Math Game
• 4. Play Treasure Hunt or Math Game
• 5. Post-Test

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No-Fantasy Control Condition

• Based on old Apple II game How the West Was One
  Three X Four
• Given 3 numbers, combine using arith ops, compute
  result, get feedback, move correct amount
• Goal Get to 50 before computer opponent

• Strategies
• Use shortcuts
• Use target zones to move to next zone
• Bump opponent back 2 target zones
• 2 levels of computer opponent
• The best it can
• Pretty well but not great

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Achieving Fantasy Effects

• Two fantasies Space Quest Treasure Hunt
• Changes
• Start page included title relevant icons
• Prologue Intro characters mission
• Game board changes
• Intergalactic trail from Earth to Planet
  Ektar w/ 4 space stations 2 intergalactic
  tunnels

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Generic Fantasy Condition
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Achieving Personalization Effects

• Use interest questionnaire from day 1
• Change in prologue
• Its childs bday, 2088. your crew 3
  friends necessary supplies 3 favorite foods
  toys Commander nickname
• Use childs name for various events
• Each turn Commander Toms turn
• Landing on intergalactic tunnel, on Earth
• Landing on Space Station
• You landed on the space station, Commander Tom.
  You are now resupplied with childs 3 favorite
  foods

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Achieving Student Choice Effects

• Students make the following choices
• Select the icon to represent them
• Name their space vehicle
• Select icon for alien (opponent)
• Name their opponent
• Select starting point for the two shortcuts on
  board

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Personalization Choice Conditions
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Impact on Learning
20 item post-test. (Groups were the same at
pre-test.) Effect size (14.36 - 9.21) / 1.71
3.0!
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Overall liking for game
Rate from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very, very much)
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Willingness to stay after class
Rate from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very, very much)
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Relative enjoyment (compared with favorite board
games subjects in school)
Rate from 1 (a lot less fun) to 7 (a lot more fun)
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Potential Long-Term Motivational Effects
Perceived Competence
Level of Aspiration
How good were you at this game?
How challenging should next game be?
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On-Line Performance Measures
probs solved correctly
Use of hints
Spaces per turn
selection of higher level
Strategic Play
Use of complex operations
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Conclusions of Cordova Lepper

• Motivational enhancements can have a dramatic
  effect
• Not only on motivation, but also on learning
• Contextualizing, personalizing, choice all
  provided enhancement
• Possible with minimal modifications
• General principle
• Maximize match between motivating activity
  actions relevant to learning!

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Overview

• Review of Cordova Lepper study
• Discussion of implications for Cognitive Tutors
• Other related experiments
• Limitations of games
• Limitations of context

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Possible Limits on the Generality of Cardova
Lepper Results?

• Fantasy might not be as effective for older
  people -- would need to be more sophisticated
• Names might work for adults
• cant make everything into a video game
• Video games may not be appealing to all
• Effects might go away over a longer period of
  time
• Better control condition (more focused
  instruction or data/theory driven instruction of
  order of operations) may have been harder to
  beat

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How Could We Make Use of Such Results in
Cognitive Tutors?

• Fantasy -gt context problems
• Could use student names in problems, feedback,
  etc.
• Survey student interests and incorporate in
  problems (may not work as well)
• Let students pick problem contexts
• Business, environmental
• (LISP tutor didnt have any context -- why am I
  learning to program)

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Possible Limits on the Generality of Cardova
Lepper Results? (2000 class answers)

• may depend on short time, what happens after 5
  hours?
• Outside private school?
• Will this work for older students? Jaded
• When does the novelty wear off?
• Limitations of literacy (requires reading).
• Interview(?) of students to get personalization
  of data. Will this work in the field?
• Does this work outside of games?
• Comparing against a more realistic control
  condition -- instructional approach?

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How Could We Make Use of Such Results in
Cognitive Tutors? (2000 class answers)

• Add fantasy. (Are all contexts equal? E.g.,
  incidental learning opportunities)
• Add gaming.
• Give choice to select the contexts.
• Allow students to chose data set in Stats tutor.
  
• Reading tutor student choice vs. alternating
  choice. Also an unpublished personalization
  manipulation.

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Match between motivating learning actions

• When does increased motivational appeal also lead
  to increased learning?
• General Principle Match between
• Actions required for Ss to learn the material
• Actions required for Ss to enjoy the activity
• When actions are
• identical or mutually reinforcing, effects on
  learning should be positive
• mutually exclusive or at odds, effects on
  learning should be negative

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Overview

• Review of Cordova Lepper study
• Discussion of implications for Cognitive Tutors
• Other related experiments
• Limitations of games
• Limitations of context

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Evaluating instructional games

• Are the goals of winning the game learning the
  material congruent or mutually supporting?
• If not, motivational activities take up time
  otherwise devoted to learning
• Example from Electronic Field Hockey
• Get charges in goal ... learn physics
• Soar cognitive model learned game without
  learning any physics.
• Follow-up study (college Ss) showed better
  learning in 2 less game-like conditions.

Miller, C. S., Lehman, J. F., Koedinger, K. R.
(1999). Goals and learning in microworlds.
Cognitive Science, 23, (3), 305-336.
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Stat Lady Tutor Studies

• Cognitive Task Analysis of Stat Lady
• Think-alouds of student use, ACT-R cognitive
  model of eye movements, time use
• Conclusion Wasted time spent tracking irrelevant
  feedback motivating context
• Tutor redesign study (adult students)
• Removing feedback/motivation features
• Significantly decreased instruction time
• No negative impact on learning
• Removing the situated context information
• No negative impact on learning

Gluck, K. A., Shute, V. J., Anderson, J. R.,
Lovett, M. C. (1998). Deconstructing a
computer-based tutor Striving for better
learning efficiency in Stat Lady. In Proceedings
of the 4th International Conference on
Intelligent Tutoring Systems.
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Summary

• Motivational enhancements can have a significant
  effect
• Not only on motivation, but also on learning
• Contextualize, personalize, choice
• Possible with minimal modifications
• Principle Maximize match b/t motivating activity
  actions relevant to learning
• Games may not yield learning
• Context does not always help