Gamification of typical education task solving process based on transformation rules search

Katsman Viktor Igorevich, Kozlov Ilya Alekseevich, Novikov Fedor Alexandrovich

The solution of problems for the transformation of symbolic expressions is the essential element of the modern educational process in the technical sciences. When solving such problems, a learner needs to transform the original expression so that it satisfies the target criteria, for example, is conjunctive normal form or matches the required target expression. To transform the expression or its subexpressions, the learner can use the already learned rules for transforming. We propose a method for gamification of the process of solving educational tasks for the transformation of symbolic expressions, based on a sequential choice of places of application and applied rules from the list of acceptable transformations. To win the game, you need to transform the symbolic expression so that it meets the target criteria. The proposed approach was tested on students of the Polytechnic and Electrotechnical Universities, as well as schoolchildren preparing for the Unified State Exam, and showed good results. Namely, learners solved on average three times as many tasks as with the standard approach; and learners' skills in solving such problems increased during the playing process.

Keywords:education, gamification, symbolic expression transformations, automated solution verification, transformation rules