Petri nets for Adaptive learning scenarios in Serious games

Abstract

Abstract Serious games are becoming a more commonly utilized tool in training, education, and learning. On the other hand, Petri nets, a well-known formalism for process modeling, seem to be a promising tool for describing learning activity scenarios for serious games and virtual environments. Thanks to their graphical form and easy-to-understand nature, it can be assumed that participants from different backgrounds should be able to understand and use Petri nets for their scenarios. A present study presented here investigates how this assumption corresponds to reality. In the study, a short explanation of Petri nets and a set of related tasks were given to a sample of 31 participants (n = 31). The participants were students of Computer Science (16) and Humanities (15). The results collected and statistically analyzed demonstrate both similarities and distinctions in the reactions to problem-solving assignments among individuals in the two groups. These findings and their analysis have been condensed and presented in visual form.