AlgoTch: the Virtual Teacher within AlgoPath
Résumé
AlgoPath is a serious game to help students with no classical computer science background understand the main concepts of algorithmics. The player builds a world that represents the ongoing algorithm by herself/himself. This world is made of concrete, paths and grass. Thanks to the inner model of AlgoPath that is based on the Model-View-Controller architecture (MVC), we intend to create a virtual teacher in the world of AlgoPath named AlgoTch. The main goals of AlgoTch are to oversee the players’ interactions, to intervene when the interactions do not correspond to what it is expected from her/him and to give hints and tips when she/he asks a question. We show how AlgoTch interacts with the Controller component of the architecture and we describe the inner model of AlgoTch. The latter is based on particular comments the real teacher writes for the various mistakes that can be made by a player and on first degree logic. We explain the three gameplay types available within AlgoPath: a single one, in which the gamer can discover the design of algorithms by her/his own; a competitive one, in which two or several players fight against one another to be the first to find the best algorithm; and a collaborative one, in which they have to find the best algorithm as a team. Finally, we explain our choice to develop AlgoTch in a new version of AlgoPath with Unity.