Using Sentiment Analytics to Understand Learner Experiences in Serious Games

Abstract

A serious game has been introduced as an alternative tool to support teaching and learning. It integrates entertainment and non-entertainment elements to encourage the voluntary learning of knowledge and skills. One of the essential entertainment elements in the serious game to motivate learning is the enjoyment element. However, studies on models to analyze this enjoyment element are still limited. Most models present isolated and specific approaches for specific games that cannot scale to other games. In this chapter, a generic enjoyment analytics framework is proposed. The framework aims to capture learners' enjoyment experience using open-ended feedback, analyze the feedback using sentiment analytics models, and visualize the results in an interactive dashboard. Using this framework, the lecturers would interpret the learners' experience towards the topic and the game and capture difficulties the learners may encounter during the game. It would help the lecturers to decide follow-up actions required for the learners to improve the learning.