Analysis of Synthetic Students as a Model of Human Behavior

Abstract

The research described in this report is an attempt to evaluate the educational effects of a computer game known as Wumpus. A set of five synthetic computer students was taken as a model of the progress of real students playing a sequence of twenty Wumpus "warrens". Using a combination of observations made of the students, representations drawn by the students and protocols kept by the computer of each session, it was found that the synthetic students are a reasonable static model of real students, but miss completely many of the important dynamic factors which affect a student's play. In spite of this, the Wumpus game was found to be an effective educational tool.