Serious Games Get Smart: Intelligent Game-Based Learning Environments

Intelligent game-based learning environments integrate commercial game technologies with AI methods from intelligent tutoring systems and intelligent narrative technologies. This article introduces the Crystal Island intelligent game-based learning environment, which has been under development in the authors' laboratory for the past seven years. After presenting Crystal Island, the principal technical problems of intelligent game-based learning environments are discussed: narrative-centered tutorial planning, student affect recognition, student knowledge modeling, and student goal recognition. The burgeoning field of game-based learning has made significant advances, including theoretical developments (Gee 2007), as well as the creation of gamebased learning environments for a broad range of K-12 subjects (Habgood and Ainsworth 2011; Ketelhut et al. 2010; Warren, Dondlinger, and Barab 2008) and training objectives (Johnson 2010; Kim et al. 2009). Of particular note are the results of recent empirical studies demonstrating that in addition to game-based learning environments' potential for motivation, they can enable students to achieve learning gains in controlled laboratory settings (Habgood and Ainsworth 2011) as well as classroom settings (Ketelhut et al. 2010).