This paper describes a discussion-bot, which provides answers to students ’ discussion board questions in an unobtrusive and human-like way. Using information retrieval and natural language processing techniques, the discussion-bot identifies the questioner’s interest, mines suitable answers from an annotated corpus of 1236 archived threaded discussions and 279 course documents, and generates a human-like reply. A novel modeling approach was designed for the analysis of archived threaded discussions to facilitate answer extraction. We compare a self-out and an all-in evaluation of the mined answers. The results show that the discussion-bot can begin to meet students ’ learning requests. We discuss directions that might be taken to increase the effectiveness of the question matching and answer extraction algorithms. The research takes place in the context of an undergraduate computer science course.

Abstract. Politeness may play a role in tutorial interaction, including promoting learner motivation and avoiding negative affect. Politeness theory can account for this as a means of mitigating the face threats arising in tutorial situations. It further provides a way of accounting for differences in politeness in different cultures.

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Abstract. Modeling user affect is becoming increasingly important for intelligent interfaces and agents that aim to establish believable interactions with their users. However, evaluating the accuracy and effectiveness of affective user models is extremely challenging because of the many unknowns in affect comprehension. In this paper, we overview existing approaches related to the validation of affective user models, and we describe our own experience with an approach for direct model evaluation that we have used in a recent study. 1

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We present a probabilistic model of user affect designed to allow an intelligent agent to recognise multiple user emotions during the interaction with an educational computer game. Our model is based on a probabilistic framework that deals with the high level of uncertainty involved in recognizing a variety of user emotions by combining in a Dynamic Bayesian Network information on both the causes and effects of emotional reactions. The part of the framework that reasons from causes to emotions (diagnostic model) implements a theoretical model of affect, the OCC model, which accounts for how emotions are caused by one’s appraisal of the current context in terms of one’s goals and preferences. The advantage of using the OCC model is that it provides an affective agent with explicit information not only on which emotions a user feels but also why, thus increasing the agent’s capability to effectively respond to the users ’ emotions. The challenge is that building the model requires having mechanisms to assess user goals and how the environment fits them, a form of plan recognition. In this paper, we illustrate how we built the predictive part of the affective model by combining general theories with empirical studies to adapt the theories to our target application domain. We then present results on the model’s accuracy, showing that the model achieves good accuracy on several of the target emotions. We also discuss the model’s limitations, to open the ground for the next stage of the work, i.e., complementing the model with diagnostic information.

Abstract. We present a model of user affect to recognize multiple user emotions during interaction with an educational computer game. Our model deals with the high level of uncertainty involved in recognizing a variety of user emotions by probabilistically combining information on both the causes and effects of emotional reactions. In previous work, we presented the performance and limitations of the model when using only causal information. In this paper, we discuss the addition of diagnostic information on user affective valence detected via an EMG sensor, and present an evaluation of the resulting model. 1

Abstract. This paper presents a mobile system that supports young students learning history at an archaeological site. It adopts gameplay as a novel and effective technique particularly suited for learning through mobile systems (mlearning). From a technological point of view, the main novelty of our system is its slim architecture. Minimal investments are required because the system runs on the students ' own cellular phones. Experimental studies indicate that gameplay is able to trigger a desire to learn more about ancient history and to make archaeological visits more exciting and learning about the past more effective. Keywords: Mobile technology, M-learning, Educational game. 1

Educational games are a beneficial activity motivating a large number of students in our society. Unfortunately, disabled people have reduced opportunities when using a computer game. We have created a new Sudoku game for people whose motion is impaired, called Sudoku Access. This special interface allows the control of the game either by voice or by a single switch. We conducted a user study of the Sudoku Access that shows that people can play the game quickly and accurately. With this special Sudoku puzzle we can help more people to get involved in computer games and contribute to develop logic thinking and concentration in students. Our research aims at building enabling technologies that increase individuals ’ functional independence in a game environment. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces—Graphical user interfaces; K.3.1 [Computers and Education]: Computer uses in Education—Computerassisted instruction (CAI); K.4.2 [Computers and Society]: Social Issues—Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.

agents Abstract: A motivationally-aware version of the Ecolab system was developed with the aim of improving the learners ’ motivation. To gain some insight into the effects of