Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education

A special issue of Information (ISSN 2078-2489). This special issue belongs to the section "Artificial Intelligence".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2024 | Viewed by 60802

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Interests: AIED; games science; design thinking; digital competencies; educational technology

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Guest Editor
Centre for Post-Digital Cultures, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Interests: game science; immersive technologies in education; hybrid learning spaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Aston, Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Interests: games and XR in education; 3D interfaces and haptics; gamification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the top of research and policy agendas around the world. While there is consensus on how AI impacts other sectors, from finance to autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and manufacturing, the impact of AI in education (AIED) has not been researched extensively. Despite minimal attention, AI-based applications are already employed at different educational levels, such as in schools, universities, and vocational education. Examples of such applications span from adaptive and intelligent learning platforms that ‘customise’ learning content and activities, to applications that respond to student’s questions and discover learning difficulties. However, education leaders, designers, teachers, and students may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of using AIED and the ethical, cultural, and pedagogical implications that may be unfolded from certain kinds of AI implementation. By making explicit the experiences, understandings, and beliefs of AIED, researchers and practitioners alike may gain deeper understandings of how AI-based teaching and learning is designed, orchestrated, and assessed to enhance the student’s learning experience. This Special Issue is aimed at providing selected contributions on advances in AIED, encompassing technical, pedagogical, ethical, and cultural aspects for making meaningful inferences on the impact of AI in teaching and learning. 

 Potential topics related to the Special Issue include, but not limited to:

  • Experiences of and approaches to using AIED in teaching and learning;
  • Design and orchestration of digital pedagogies for AIED;
  • Ethical and multicultural aspects of AIED;
  • Personalised and adaptive learning experiences through AIED;
  • Autonomous assessment and feedback (e.g., formative, and summative feedback, adaptive assessment; assessing affection, engagement, performance, and motivation);
  • AIED tools, applications, and models (e.g., intelligent tutoring systems, learning analytics, exploratory learning environments, chatbots, virtual and augmented reality, tangible interfaces, domain, pedagogy, learner, and open learner models);
  • AI embedded in serious games, game-based learning, and gamification;
  • AIED context and modes of learning (e.g., schools, universities, vocational education, hybrid, distance, online, formal, informal, and non-formal learning);
  • Teachers’ digital competencies for empowering AI-based teaching and learning;
  • Subject-specific AIED applications (e.g., for teaching science, technology and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and arts).

Dr. Petros Lameras
Prof. Dr. Sylvester Arnab
Dr. Panagiotis Petridis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • AIED applications and tools
  • adaptive learning
  • AIED digital pedagogies
  • AIED assessment and feedback
  • AIED ethics and culture
  • AIED competencies and skills

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 456 KiB  
Article
A Probabilistic Approach to Modeling Students’ Interactions in a Learning Management System for Facilitating Distance Learning
by Dimitrios Karapiperis, Katerina Tzafilkou, Rozita Tsoni, Georgios Feretzakis and Vassilios S. Verykios
Information 2023, 14(8), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14080440 - 04 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1225
Abstract
Learning mostly involves communication and interaction that leads to new information being processed, which eventually turns into knowledge. In the digital era, these actions pass through online technologies. Formal education uses LMSs that support these actions and, at the same time, produce massive [...] Read more.
Learning mostly involves communication and interaction that leads to new information being processed, which eventually turns into knowledge. In the digital era, these actions pass through online technologies. Formal education uses LMSs that support these actions and, at the same time, produce massive amounts of data. In a distance learning model, the assignments have an important role besides assessing the learning outcome; they also help students become actively engaged with the course and regulate their learning behavior. In this work, we leverage data retrieved from students’ online interactions to improve our understanding of the learning process. Focusing on log data, we investigate the students’ activity that occur close to and during assignment submission due dates. Additionally, their activity in relation to their academic achievements is examined and the response time in the forum communication is computed both for students and their tutors. The main findings include that students tend to procrastinate in the submission of their assignments mostly at the beginning of the course. Furthermore, the last-minute submissions are usually made late at night, which probably indicates poor management or lack of available time. Regarding forum interactions, our findings highlight that tutors tend to respond faster than students in the corresponding posts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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26 pages, 995 KiB  
Article
Evaluating a Conceptual Model for Measuring Gaming Experience: A Case Study of Stranded Away Platformer Game
by Luka Blašković, Alesandro Žužić and Tihomir Orehovački
Information 2023, 14(6), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14060350 - 18 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2796
Abstract
Video games have become a ubiquitous form of entertainment and have been enjoyed by people of all ages around the world. The gaming industry has evolved rapidly, with new games being released every year that push the boundaries of technology and creativity. To [...] Read more.
Video games have become a ubiquitous form of entertainment and have been enjoyed by people of all ages around the world. The gaming industry has evolved rapidly, with new games being released every year that push the boundaries of technology and creativity. To ensure that video games are not just technically advanced, but also enjoyable and engaging, measuring the gaming experience is essential because it helps game designers understand how players interact with the game and identify areas for its improvement. The objective of this paper is to examine an interplay of gaming experience dimensions in the context of platform video games and to determine the extent to which they contribute to players’ behavioral intentions. To fulfil this objective, an empirical study was undertaken, involving participants with diverse gaming backgrounds. They were requested to engage in the gameplay of the Stranded Away platformer game and subsequently respond to a post-use questionnaire. The psychometric features of the introduced conceptual model were evaluated with the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. The reported findings demonstrate the importance of evaluating different facets of the gaming experience in video games and showcase the potential of the proposed model and measuring instrument as tools for game designers to enhance the overall quality of their products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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22 pages, 1088 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Learning and Forgetting Behavior for Contextual Knowledge Tracing
by Mingzhi Chen, Kaiquan Bian, Yizhou He, Zhefu Li and Hua Zheng
Information 2023, 14(3), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14030168 - 07 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2138
Abstract
Knowledge tracing (KT) is based on modeling students’ behavior sequences to obtain students’ knowledge state and predict students’ future performance. The KT task aims to model students’ knowledge state in real-time according to their historical learning behavior, so as to predict their future [...] Read more.
Knowledge tracing (KT) is based on modeling students’ behavior sequences to obtain students’ knowledge state and predict students’ future performance. The KT task aims to model students’ knowledge state in real-time according to their historical learning behavior, so as to predict their future learning performance. Online education has become more critical in recent years due to the impact of COVID-19, and KT has also attracted much attention due to its importance in the education field. However, previous KT models generally have the following three problems. Firstly, students’ learning and forgetting behaviors affect their knowledge state, and past KT models have yet to exploit this fully. Secondly, the input of traditional KT models is mainly limited to students’ exercise sequence and answers. In the learning process, students’ answering performance can reflect their knowledge level. Finally, the context of students’ learning sequence also affects their judgment of the knowledge state. In this paper, we combined educational psychology theories to propose enhanced learning and forgetting behavior for contextual knowledge tracing (LFEKT). LFEKT enriches the features of exercises by introducing difficulty information and considers the influence of students’ answering behavior on the knowledge state. In order to model students’ learning and forgetting behavior, LFEKT integrates multiple influencing factors to build a knowledge acquisition module and a knowledge retention module. Furthermore, LFEKT introduces a long short-term memory (LSTM) network to capture the contextual relations of learned sequences. From the experimental results, it can be seen that LFEKT had better prediction performance than existing models on four public datasets, which indicates that LFEKT can better trace students’ knowledge state and has better prediction performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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21 pages, 2447 KiB  
Article
Conceptual Approach to the Pedagogy of Serious Games
by María Rosa Fernández-Sánchez, Alberto González-Fernández and Jesús Acevedo-Borrega
Information 2023, 14(2), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14020132 - 17 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3024
Abstract
The transformation of educational processes, derived from the technological disruption that has taken place in the educational field, has allowed for the development of certain methodologies and techniques that place emphasis on the students as an active element in their own learning. Among [...] Read more.
The transformation of educational processes, derived from the technological disruption that has taken place in the educational field, has allowed for the development of certain methodologies and techniques that place emphasis on the students as an active element in their own learning. Among these methodologies is learning based on video games. Serious games are video games with an explicit educational objective, that facilitate the generation of motivating contexts, promoting relevant experiences, and with the possibility of creating challenges of a systemic nature. With a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, this study analysed the pedagogical models and/or approaches that are implemented in the teaching–learning processes brought about by the use of serious games, with the aim of evidencing the potentialities derived from the conception of the video game as an educational resource. The results show a clear conceptual network in relation to the analysed subject, with little interaction between selected studies. A variety of pedagogical models were identified, pertaining to the use of serious games as an educational resource in the classroom context. As an overall conclusion, there is no one reference model able to generate a single pedagogy for serious games. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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16 pages, 2213 KiB  
Article
Efficacy of the 4F Feedback Model: A Game-Based Assessment in University Education
by Sara de Freitas, Victoria Uren, Kristian Kiili, Manuel Ninaus, Panagiotis Petridis, Petros Lameras, Ian Dunwell, Sylvester Arnab, Stephen Jarvis and Kam Star
Information 2023, 14(2), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14020099 - 06 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3267
Abstract
Feedback is a critical aspect of optimised learning design, but there are few, if any, feedback models that map different types of feedback and how they may assist students to increase performance and enhance their learning experience. This research paper outlines a feedback [...] Read more.
Feedback is a critical aspect of optimised learning design, but there are few, if any, feedback models that map different types of feedback and how they may assist students to increase performance and enhance their learning experience. This research paper outlines a feedback model as an extension of the four-dimensional framework which includes a consideration of the type, the content, the format, and the frequency of feedback, as well as the agent which delivers it. This model is based upon an understanding of learning in the context of designing learning experiences and utilises a game-based model of learning to understand the importance of motivation and autonomy in learners to enhance and accelerate learning. The framework is developed and reflected upon by analysing two cases: a medical triage case in which the timing and frequency of feedback proved critical, and a business simulation which illuminated the need for a range of types of feedback and to be aware of the possibility of different agents (instructor peer and game) that can deliver feedback. The extended model may help game and learning designers alike to discern different types of feedback, both in games and more generally, in more explicit and nuanced ways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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14 pages, 879 KiB  
Article
Educational Breakout Based on Star Wars for Learning the History of Spanish Sign Language
by Ricardo Moreno-Rodriguez, José Luis Lopez-Bastias, Miriam Diaz-Vega and Rosa Espada-Chavarria
Information 2023, 14(2), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/info14020096 - 06 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1506
Abstract
Although educational breakout has been implemented in pre-university stages, there is little evidence in subjects related to history in postsecondary levels. The aim of this paper was to present the results obtained after implementing an educational breakout, under the premises of Universal Design [...] Read more.
Although educational breakout has been implemented in pre-university stages, there is little evidence in subjects related to history in postsecondary levels. The aim of this paper was to present the results obtained after implementing an educational breakout, under the premises of Universal Design for Learning, in a history subject that belongs to the university degree in Spanish Sign Language and Deaf Community. A descriptive and comparative ex post facto study (N = 59) was developed to quantify the impact of an educational breakout activity on the students’ commitment, establishing a pre- and post-comparison. Significant differences were found with respect to the perception of the speed of the passage of time and with respect to sustained attention, where there was a statistically significant difference between the time before and the time after the educational breakout. The predisposition of university students to participate in gamified or game-based activities was positive and in subjects such as history, and offers good results, both attitudinal and learning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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16 pages, 2092 KiB  
Article
Digital Educational Escape Room Analysis Using Learning Styles
by Oriol Borrás-Gené, Raquel Montes Díez and Almudena Macías-Guillén
Information 2022, 13(11), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13110522 - 02 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2114
Abstract
Teachers often need to adapt their teaching methodologies in order to overcome possible limitations and ensure that education does not lose quality in the face of different scenarios that may arise in the educational environment, which are not always the most desirable. Techniques [...] Read more.
Teachers often need to adapt their teaching methodologies in order to overcome possible limitations and ensure that education does not lose quality in the face of different scenarios that may arise in the educational environment, which are not always the most desirable. Techniques such as the Educational Escape Room (ERE) in higher education, are taking a great increase due to its popularity among young people as a leisure activity. This study shows an educational research based on the application of a Digital Educational Escape Room (DEER) to respond to the limitations of hybrid teaching with students divided between the classroom and their homes. Through the analysis of a control group, with a traditional lecture class, and an experimental group with the use of a pretest and a posttest, with the addition of studying the different learning styles of the students in each group, interesting results and conclusions have been obtained that offer a replicability of this technique for other fields and educational modalities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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18 pages, 6387 KiB  
Article
Educational Digital Escape Rooms Footprint on Students’ Feelings: A Case Study within Aerospace Engineering
by Luis M. Sánchez-Ruiz, Salvador López-Alfonso, Santiago Moll-López, José Antonio Moraño-Fernández and Erika Vega-Fleitas
Information 2022, 13(10), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13100478 - 02 Oct 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1966
Abstract
The introduction of game-based learning techniques has significantly swayed learning, motivation, and information processing in both traditional and digital learning environments. This paper studies the footprint that the implementation of ten short-duration digital escape rooms has had on the creation of an environment [...] Read more.
The introduction of game-based learning techniques has significantly swayed learning, motivation, and information processing in both traditional and digital learning environments. This paper studies the footprint that the implementation of ten short-duration digital escape rooms has had on the creation of an environment of positive emotions in the educational field. The digital escape rooms were created by employing the Genial.ly platform and RPG Maker MZ software. A feelings/satisfaction questionnaire has been conducted to study what emotions students have experienced, as well as the students’ opinions about essential elements of digital escape rooms, to study whether positive feelings predominate in the performance of these activities. Results show a high incidence of positive emotions, and a very favorable opinion on the tools employed and the positive feelings on the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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13 pages, 1839 KiB  
Article
Usability Evaluation of an Adaptive Serious Game Prototype Based on Affective Feedback
by Lampros Karavidas, Hippokratis Apostolidis and Thrasyvoulos Tsiatsos
Information 2022, 13(9), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13090425 - 08 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1805
Abstract
Difficulty in video games is an essential factor for a game to be considered engaging and is directly linked to losing in a game. However, for the user to not feel bored or frustrated, it is necessary for the difficulty of the game [...] Read more.
Difficulty in video games is an essential factor for a game to be considered engaging and is directly linked to losing in a game. However, for the user to not feel bored or frustrated, it is necessary for the difficulty of the game to be balanced and ideally tailored to the user. This paper presents the design and development of a serious game that adjusts its difficulty based on the user’s bio signals, so that it is demanding enough to match his/her skills, in order to enter the flow state. The serious game is accompanied by a server that uses machine learning algorithms to analyze the user’s bio signals and classify them into different affective states. These states are later used to adjust the difficulty of the serious game in real-time, without interfering with the user’s game experience. Finally, a heuristic evaluation was conducted in order to measure its usability and highlight the good practices and to draw attention to some elements of the game that should be changed in a future version. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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15 pages, 1341 KiB  
Article
Automatically Generated Visual Profiles of Code Solutions as Feedback for Students
by Jakub Swacha
Information 2022, 13(9), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13090415 - 01 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1393
Abstract
Providing students feedback on their exercise solutions is a crucial element of computer programming education. Such feedback can be generated automatically and can take various forms. This paper introduces and proposes the use of visual profiles of code solutions as a form of [...] Read more.
Providing students feedback on their exercise solutions is a crucial element of computer programming education. Such feedback can be generated automatically and can take various forms. This paper introduces and proposes the use of visual profiles of code solutions as a form of automatically generated feedback to programming students. The visual profiles are based on the frequency of code elements belonging to six distinct classes. The core idea is to visually compare a profile of a student-submitted solution code to the range of profiles of accepted solutions (including both reference solutions provided by instructors and solutions submitted by students who successfully passed the same exercise earlier). The advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated on a number of examples based on real-world data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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Review

Jump to: Research, Other

18 pages, 2734 KiB  
Review
Gamification in Online Education: A Visual Bibliometric Network Analysis
by Azin Yazdi, Amir Karimi and Stylianos Mystakidis
Information 2024, 15(2), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/info15020081 - 01 Feb 2024
Viewed by 2003
Abstract
This study applies bibliometric and network analysis methods to map the literature-based landscape of gamification in online distance learning. Two thousand four hundred and nineteen publications between 2000 and 2023 from the Scopus database were analyzed. Leading journals, influential articles, and the most [...] Read more.
This study applies bibliometric and network analysis methods to map the literature-based landscape of gamification in online distance learning. Two thousand four hundred and nineteen publications between 2000 and 2023 from the Scopus database were analyzed. Leading journals, influential articles, and the most critical topics on gamification in online training were identified. The co-authors’ analysis demonstrates a considerable rise in the number of nations evaluating research subjects, indicating increasing international cooperation. The main contributors are the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Spain, and Canada. The co-occurrence network analysis of keywords revealed six distinct research clusters: (i) the implementation of gamification in various learning contexts, (ii) investigating the application of gamification in student education to promote the use of electronic learning, (iii) utilizing artificial intelligence tools in online learning, (iv) exploring educational technologies, (v) developing strategies for creating a playful learning environment, and (vi) understanding children’s learning processes. Finally, an analysis of the most cited articles identified three research themes: (a) gamification-based learning platforms, (b) measurement of users’ appreciation and satisfaction, and (c) 3D virtual immersive learning environments. This study contributes to the subject discipline by informing researchers about the latest research trends in online education gamification and identifying promising research directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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38 pages, 3054 KiB  
Review
Power to the Teachers: An Exploratory Review on Artificial Intelligence in Education
by Petros Lameras and Sylvester Arnab
Information 2022, 13(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13010014 - 29 Dec 2021
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 15223
Abstract
This exploratory review attempted to gather evidence from the literature by shedding light on the emerging phenomenon of conceptualising the impact of artificial intelligence in education. The review utilised the PRISMA framework to review the analysis and synthesis process encompassing the search, screening, [...] Read more.
This exploratory review attempted to gather evidence from the literature by shedding light on the emerging phenomenon of conceptualising the impact of artificial intelligence in education. The review utilised the PRISMA framework to review the analysis and synthesis process encompassing the search, screening, coding, and data analysis strategy of 141 items included in the corpus. Key findings extracted from the review incorporate a taxonomy of artificial intelligence applications with associated teaching and learning practice and a framework for helping teachers to develop and self-reflect on the skills and capabilities envisioned for employing artificial intelligence in education. Implications for ethical use and a set of propositions for enacting teaching and learning using artificial intelligence are demarcated. The findings of this review contribute to developing a better understanding of how artificial intelligence may enhance teachers’ roles as catalysts in designing, visualising, and orchestrating AI-enabled teaching and learning, and this will, in turn, help to proliferate AI-systems that render computational representations based on meaningful data-driven inferences of the pedagogy, domain, and learner models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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Other

Jump to: Research, Review

20 pages, 4365 KiB  
Systematic Review
A Comparative Study of the ADDIE Instructional Design Model in Distance Education
by Adamantia G. Spatioti, Ioannis Kazanidis and Jenny Pange
Information 2022, 13(9), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/info13090402 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 19146
Abstract
Distance education is now a reality introducing a “specific methodology of flexible and interactive multiform learning”. Due to its characteristics, different instructional design models apply to distance education as guidelines of the design thinking process pursuing specific learning outcomes. This study [...] Read more.
Distance education is now a reality introducing a “specific methodology of flexible and interactive multiform learning”. Due to its characteristics, different instructional design models apply to distance education as guidelines of the design thinking process pursuing specific learning outcomes. This study refers to the investigation of good teaching practices and approaches in relation to the ADDIE model in distance online environments. The purpose of this paper is to investigate both the effectiveness of the ADDIE model in distance education and its contribution to the online teaching process. Meta-analysis is chosen as the research methodology. Specifically, we export a total of 58 articles referring to the ADDIE model. From these, we find that only 23 articles are appropriate for the meta-analysis. According to the results of this study, we observe that the ADDIE model applies to meet different teaching requirements in all online educational environments. In this study, we observe that good practices of teaching are the multimedia presentation, feedback, variety of interactive exercises or activities, combined learning strategy (individualized and collaborative), and role of educators. Then, an asynchronous approach was preferred in distance education. Finally, the ADDIE model is considered as a valuable source of additional information by providing good teaching practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Games Science in Education)
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