EDM & games: Leveling up engaged learning with data-rich analytics

There is growing evidence that digital games are an effective medium for learning. Games also present distinctive challenges and opportunities for educational data mining (EDM). Many games feature complex, open-ended tasks and unexpected learner behaviors. In addition, games provide vast amounts of fine-grained data about learners' behaviors, offering a new window into student learning processes. Game-based learning raises questions that require new computational techniques and methodologies to enhance our understanding of the moment-to-moment signatures of engaged learning. To explore these questions, we have convened a workshop on EDM & Games: Leveling Up Engaged Learning with Data-Rich Analytics. The purpose of the workshop is to build a community with shared interest in this emerging area, foster future collaborations, and identify new opportunities for EDM that are enabled by data from student interactions with game-based learning environments. The half-day workshop features a program of oral paper presentations, group discussions, and an invited speaker, each exploring questions about how EDM and games can be leveraged together to enhance our understanding of engaged learning in a range of educational contexts.